Abhanga 2859
Real devotion doesn't need the approval of respectable, learned people, so you can keep doing what feels true even if the world calls it foolish.
The verse
तुका वेडा अविचार । करी बडबड फार ॥१॥
नित्य वाचे हा चि छंद । राम कृष्ण हरि गोविंद ॥ध्रु.॥
धरी पांडुरंगीं भाव। आणीक नेणें दुजा देव ॥२॥
गुरुज्ञान सर्वा ठायीं । दुजें न विचारी कांहीं ॥३॥
बोल नाईंके कोणाचे । कथे नागवा चि नाचे ॥४॥
संगउपचारें कांटाळे । सुखें भलते ठायीं लोळे ॥५॥
कांहीं उपदेशिलें नेणे । वाचे विठ्ठल विठ्ठल म्हणे ॥६॥
केला बहुतीं फजित । तरी हें चि करी नित्य ॥७॥
अहो पंडितजन । तुका टाकावा थुंकोन ॥८॥
Literal translation
Tukā vēḍā avichāra — Tukā isvēḍā(mad),avichāra(without-thinking); karī baḍabaḍa phāra — (he) doesbaḍabaḍa(chatter) much. Nitya vāche hā chi chanda — thenitya-vāchā(constant-speech) has this verychanda(passion-rhythm); Rāma Krṣṇa Hari Govinda — Rāma, Krṣṇa, Hari, Govinda. Dharī Pāṇḍurangī bhāva — (he) holdsbhāvaat Pāṇḍuranga; āṇika neṇe dujā Deva — and does not know any second Deva. Guru-jñāna sarvā ṭhāyī — guru-jñāna(the guru's knowing) is everywhere; dujē na vichārī kāmhī — (he) doesn'tvichārī(consider) any second. Bōla nāike kōṇāñce — doesn't listen to anyone'sbōla(words); kathē nāgavā chi nāche — in thekathā— (he) just dancesnāgavā(naked, abandoned). Sanga-upachāre kāmṭāḷe — (he) getskāmṭāḷe(disgusted) at thesanga-upachāra(formal-company-customs); sukhe bhalate ṭhāyī lōḷe — (he) happilylōḷe(rolls) (in) any-place. Kāmhī upadeśile neṇe — doesn't know anyupadeśa(formal teaching); vāche Viṭhṭhala Viṭhṭhala mhaṇe — (his) speech saysViṭhṭhala Viṭhṭhala. Kelā bahutīm fajita — (he) has been madefajita(publicly humiliated) by many; tarī he chi karī nitya — yet does this very-thing daily. Ahō paṇḍita-jana — Opaṇḍita-jana(learned-folk); Tukā ṭākāvā thunkōna — Tukā should-beṭākāvā thunkōna(cast-away with spit, spit-out).
What it means
THE canonical 8-verse Tukārām autobiographical self-description — a masterpiece of defiant-bhakta self-description. Each verse names-and-celebrates a characteristic-of-the-mad-bhakta that the learned-paṇḍita-class would-find-contemptible.
Verse 1 — Madness: Tukā vēḍā avichāra — karī baḍabaḍa phāra — Tukā is mad, without-thinking — chatters much. The opening-claim. Vēḍā (mad), avichāra (without-thinking), baḍabaḍa (chatterer) — all-three are paṇḍita-contemptible-terms — and Tukā-claims-them.
Dhrūpada — Name-only: Nitya vāche hā chi chanda — Rāma Krṣṇa Hari Govinda — the nitya-vāchā has only this passion-rhythm: Rāma-Krṣṇa-Hari-Govinda. The four-Name chanda (mantra-rhythm) is the only-content of his speech.
Verse 2 — Pāṇḍuranga-only: Dharī Pāṇḍurangī bhāva — āṇika neṇe dujā Deva — holds bhāva at Pāṇḍuranga — doesn't know any other Deva. Exclusive bhakti.
Verse 3 — Guru-jñāna everywhere: Guru-jñāna sarvā ṭhāyī — dujē na vichārī kāmhī — guru-jñāna everywhere — doesn't consider any second. The advaita-claim: the guru's-knowing is in-everything; no-duality.
Verse 4 — Naked-in-kathā: Bōla nāike kōṇāñce — kathē nāgavā chi nāche — doesn't listen to anyone's words — in kathā, just dances naked. The nāgavā nāche — naked-dancing-in-kathā — total-abandonment of social-decorum. (Naked here is metaphorical for all-coverings-shed.)
Verse 5 — Disgusts at formal-company: Sanga-upachāre kāmṭāḷe — sukhe bhalate ṭhāyī lōḷe — gets disgusted at formal-company-customs — happily rolls (in) any-place. The bhakta's anti-decorum — he rolls anywhere, careless-of-status.
Verse 6 — No upadeśa, only Viṭṭhala: Kāmhī upadeśile neṇe — vāche Viṭhṭhala Viṭhṭhala mhaṇe — doesn't know any upadeśa — speech says Viṭhṭhala Viṭhṭhala. (He) has no formal-teaching to share; only the Name.
Verse 7 — Humiliated but persists: Kelā bahutīm fajita — tarī he chi karī nitya — been publicly-humiliated by many — yet does this daily. The defiance: humiliation doesn't deter him.
Verse 8 (close) — Pāṇḍitas spit-out-Tukā: Ahō paṇḍita-jana — Tukā ṭākāvā thunkōna — O learned-folk — Tukā should-be spit-out! The famous defiant-close: Tukārām invites the paṇḍitas to spit-him-out. He doesn't-need-their-approval.
This is one of the most-radical self-descriptions in the entire Marathi-bhakti corpus — Tukārām's anti-paṇḍita defiance fully-articulated.
For someone today
This is Tuka's most famous, defiant self-portrait. He openly names himself mad, thoughtless, a chatterer who can't stop talking, and the only rhythm to his constant speech is the Name: Rama, Krishna, Hari, Govinda. His heart holds only Panduranga; he knows no other god, and to him the guru's wisdom is present everywhere, so nothing else needs weighing. He listens to no one's opinions, dances stripped bare of all pretense when the kirtan gets going, and grows disgusted by formal social niceties, happily rolling around wherever he pleases instead. He has no polished teaching to offer, only the Name Vitthal, Vitthal on his tongue. He has been publicly mocked and humiliated many times over, yet he keeps doing exactly this, every single day. And then comes the famous closing line: O learned scholars, go ahead and spit Tuka out, he does not need your approval.
मराठी: हे तुकाराम महाराजांचे सर्वात प्रसिद्ध, निर्भीड आत्मचित्रण आहे. ते स्वतःला उघडपणे वेडा, अविचारी, सतत बडबडणारा असे म्हणतात — आणि त्यांच्या अखंड वाणीला एकच लय आहे: राम, कृष्ण, हरि, गोविंद. त्यांचे मन फक्त पांडुरंगावर आहे; ते दुसरा कोणताही देव जाणत नाहीत, आणि त्यांना गुरुज्ञान सर्वत्र दिसते, त्यामुळे दुसरे काही विचारात घ्यायची गरजच उरत नाही. ते कोणाचेच बोलणे ऐकत नाहीत, कीर्तनात सगळे भान विसरून नाचतात, आणि औपचारिक शिष्टाचाराचा त्यांना कंटाळा येतो — ते आनंदाने वाटेल तिथे लोळतात. त्यांच्याकडे शिकवण्यासारखे काही ठराविक ज्ञान नाही, फक्त विठ्ठलविठ्ठल हा नामजप त्यांच्या मुखी असतो. त्यांची अनेकदा जाहीर टिंगलटवाळी झाली आहे, तरीही ते रोजच्या रोज हेच करत राहतात. आणि शेवटी येते ती प्रसिद्ध ओळ — अहो पंडितजन, तुकारामाला थुंकून टाकाच — त्याला तुमच्या मान्यतेची गरज नाही.
Where this applies
- When you feel embarrassed about how openly emotional or devoted you get about something you love
- When educated or respectable people look down on your simple, unpolished way of practicing your faith
- When you've been mocked or humiliated for something you care about and are tempted to stop
- When you find yourself chasing other people's approval instead of trusting what feels true to you