Abhanga 2849
A guide who takes away a trusting seeker's only support and calls harmful lies sweet deserves protest, not silence.
The verse
अंधर्याची काठी । हिरोनियां कडा लोटी ॥१॥
हें कां देखण्या उचित । लाभ किंवा कांहीं हित ॥ध्रु.॥
साकर म्हणोनि माती । चाळवूनि द्यावी हातीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे वाटे । देवा पसरावे सराटे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Andharyāñcī kāṭhī — thekāṭhī(stick) of theandhaḷā(blind one); hirōnīyām kaḍā lōṭī — (he)hirōnīyām(snatching) — pushes (him)kaḍā(off the cliff, the edge). He kām dēkhaṇyā uchita — is thisuchita(fitting, proper) for thedēkhaṇā(sighted, seeing one)?; lābha kimvā kāmhī hita — whatlābha(gain) or whathita(welfare) (is in this)? Sākara mhaṇōnī mātī — callingmātī(mud)sākara(sugar); chāḷavūnī dyāvī hātī — confusing-and-giving (it) into (his) hand. Tukā says: vāṭē — on the path; Devā pasarāve sarāṭē — Deva, (you)pasarāve(spread)sarāṭē(thorny-burrs, prickly-spurs)!
What it means
A short protest verse against false-teachers. Andharyāñcī kāṭhī — hirōnīyām kaḍā lōṭī — the blind-man's stick — (he) snatches and pushes (him) over the cliff. The image: a sighted-person who, instead of guiding the blind-man, snatches his stick (his-only-aid) and pushes him off the cliff. The horror-image of the abuse-of-the-helpless.
He kām dēkhaṇyā uchita — lābha kimvā kāmhī hita — is this fitting for the sighted one — what gain or welfare? The rhetorical-question: what gain or welfare for the sighted-one in doing this? (None — it's pure-cruelty.)
Sākara mhaṇōnī mātī — chāḷavūnī dyāvī hātī — calling mud sugar — confusing-and-giving into (his) hand. The second-image: deceiving the blind-or-trusting-one by calling mud sugar and putting it in his hand. The false-teacher hands-mud-as-sugar to the seeking-bhakta.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe vāṭē — Devā pasarāve sarāṭē — Tukā: on the path — Deva, spread thorny-burrs! The protest-petition: Deva, spread sarāṭē (thorny-burrs) on the path (of such-false-teachers, so they-cannot-continue). The vehement-protest-to-the-Lord.
This is one of Tukārām's clearest protests-against false-teachers and their-abuse-of-the-spiritually-seeking. The blind-man-with-stick is the seeker who-has-only-this-much-aid; the sighted-person who-snatches-and-pushes-off-cliff is the false-teacher.
For someone today
This is Tuka's protest against false teachers who prey on the trusting. He paints a horrifying picture: someone snatches away a blind man's walking stick, his only means of finding his way, and then pushes him right off a cliff. What could a sighted person possibly gain from doing that to someone helpless? He adds a second image — a false teacher who calls mud sugar, handing dirt to a trusting hand as though it were something sweet and good. A real teacher does the opposite of both these things: they never strip away the little support a seeker relies on, and they never dress up something harmful as though it were a gift. Tuka's protest is fierce — he even calls on God to scatter thorns on the path of such teachers, showing that righteous anger toward manipulation is legitimate, not something to suppress.
मराठी: हा तुकाराम महाराजांचा भाबड्या भक्तांना फसवणाऱ्या खोट्या गुरूंविरुद्धचा तीव्र निषेध आहे. ते एक भीषण चित्र उभे करतात — कोणीतरी आंधळ्या माणसाची काठी, त्याचा एकमेव आधार, हिसकावून घेतो आणि त्याला कड्यावरून ढकलून देतो. डोळस माणसाला असहाय्य माणसाशी असे वागून काय मिळणार? दुसरे चित्र ते देतात — खोटा गुरू मातीला साखर म्हणून विश्वासू हातात देतो, जणू ती काहीतरी गोड, चांगली वस्तू आहे. खरा गुरू याच्या नेमके उलट वागतो — तो साधकाच्या छोट्याशा आधारालाही हिरावून घेत नाही, आणि हानिकारक गोष्टीला भेट म्हणून सजवत नाही. तुकाराम महाराजांचा निषेध तीव्र आहे — ते देवालाही अशा गुरूंच्या वाटेवर काटे पसरण्याची विनंती करतात, यातून हे स्पष्ट होते की फसवणुकीविरुद्धचा संताप दाबून ठेवण्याची गोष्ट नसून तो व्यक्त करणे रास्त आहे.
Where this applies
- When someone in a position of trust, a teacher, guru, or counselor, pushes people toward confusion instead of helping them
- When someone tries to convince you that something harmful is actually wonderful for you
- When you've lost your footing, your faith or confidence, because of bad guidance you trusted
- When you need to speak up against manipulation instead of quietly accepting it