Abhanga 2847
Aisē santa jāle kaḷī — such santa have become in Kaḷī (Kali-yuga); tōṇḍī tamākhū-cī naḷī — (with) the naḷī (pipe) of tamākhū (tobacco) in the mouth.
The verse
ऐसे संत जाले कळीं । तोंडीं तमाखूची नळी ॥१॥
स्नानसंध्या बुडविली । पुढें भांग वोडवली ॥ध्रु.॥
भांगभुर्का हें साधन । पची पडे मद्यपान ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे अवघें सोंग । तेथें कैचा पांडुरंग ॥३॥
Literal translation
Aisē santa jāle kaḷī — such santa have become in Kaḷī (Kali-yuga); tōṇḍī tamākhū-cī naḷī — (with) the naḷī (pipe) of tamākhū (tobacco) in the mouth. Snāna-sandhyā buḍavilī — the snāna-sandhyā (bathing-and-twilight-prayer) (they have) drowned; puḍhē bhānga vōḍavalī — ahead, the bhānga (cannabis-drink) (they have) vōḍavalī (placed forward, offered). Bhānga-bhurkā he sādhana — bhānga-bhurkā (cannabis-gulping) — this is (their) sādhana; pachī paḍe madya-pāna — following-after, falls (in succession) madya-pāna (alcohol-drinking). Tukā says: avaghē sōnga — all (this) is sōnga (disguise); tēthē kaicā Pāṇḍuranga — where (is) Pāṇḍuranga (in) such (a one)?*
What it means
The closing-verse of the 4-abhang anti-fake-renunciate cluster (2844-2847). The sharpest-specific-target: the tobacco-cannabis-alcohol-using pseudo-sants.
Aisē santa jāle kaḷī — tōṇḍī tamākhū-cī naḷī — such santa have become in Kali — tobacco-pipe in (their) mouth. The Kali-yuga-degenerated santa class has tobacco-pipes in their mouths. (Tobacco was introduced to India in the late 16th-early 17th century — during Tukārām's lifetime. This is direct social-observation from his time.)
Snāna-sandhyā buḍavilī — puḍhē bhānga vōḍavalī — the snāna-sandhyā (bathing-and-prayer) drowned; ahead, bhānga placed. The snāna-sandhyā — the basic-daily-purification-discipline — has been drowned (abandoned). In its-place, bhānga (cannabis-drink, traditional in some Śaiva/Tāntrika circles) is vōḍavalī (placed-forward as offering). The bhakti-discipline replaced-by-intoxicant-cult.
Bhānga-bhurkā he sādhana — pachī paḍe madya-pāna — bhānga-bhurkā (cannabis-gulping) this is the sādhana — following-after falls madya-pāna. The fake-sādhana progression: cannabis-then-alcohol. Once-intoxicants-are-the-sādhana, madya-pāna (alcohol) naturally-follows.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe avaghē sōnga — tēthē kaicā Pāṇḍuranga — all (this) is sōnga (disguise) — where (is) Pāṇḍuranga in such-a-one? The diagnostic-question: where-can Pāṇḍuranga (the bhakta's-Lord) be-found in someone whose sādhana is intoxication?
For someone today
A canonical anti-intoxicant-pseudo-sant polemic. Such santa have become in Kali — tobacco-pipe in mouth. The bathing-and-prayer drowned — ahead, cannabis placed (as offering). Cannabis-gulping — this is the sādhana — following-after, alcohol-drinking falls. All (this) is disguise — where is Pāṇḍuranga (in such a one)? Three diagnostics: (1) tobacco/cannabis/alcohol-as-sādhana is the signature of Kali-yuga's corrupt-renunciate; (2) abandoning-the-basic-purification-discipline for intoxicant-cult is the degeneration-trajectory; (3) Pāṇḍuranga is absent where intoxication-is-the-sādhana. The verse provides historical-evidence of 17th-c. corrupt-renunciate practices in Maharashtra — this is social-observation as bhakti-critique. The 4-abhang cluster (2844-2847) as-a-whole is Tukārām's anti-fake-renunciate manifesto: (1) carrot-flute-yogis-with-tāṭhā-abhimāna, (2) hypocrites-with-nose-holding-yet-coveting, (3) ṭīḷā-ṭōpī-show-with-engraved-mudrās-for-social-status, (4) tobacco-cannabis-alcohol-as-sādhana. All these are sōnga — disguises.
Where this applies
- The canonical anti-intoxicant-pseudo-sant polemic
- Closing 4th verse of 4-abhang anti-fake-renunciate cluster (2844-2847)
- Recognizing tobacco-cannabis-as-sādhana hypocrite-signature
- Historical-evidence of 17th-c. corrupt-renunciate practices
- The closing diagnostic: Pāṇḍuranga is absent in intoxication-as-sādhana