Abhanga 2865
Everything done from ego rather than genuine feeling is false, Tukārām says, including his own devotion whenever it becomes mere performance.
The verse
लटिकें हासें लटिकें रडें । लटिकें उडें लटिक्यापें॥१॥
लटिकें माझें लटिकें तुझें । लटिकें ओझें लटिक्याचें ॥ध्रु.॥
लटिकें गायें लटिकें ध्यायें । लटिकें जायें लटिक्यापें ॥३॥
लटिका भोगी लटिका त्यागी । लटिका जोगी जग माया ॥३॥
लटिका तुका लटिक्या भावें । लटिकें बोले लटिक्यासवें ॥४॥
Literal translation
Laṭike hāse laṭike raḍe — laṭike (false) laughter, laṭike weeping; laṭike uḍe laṭikyāpe — laṭike jumping with the laṭika. Laṭike mājhe laṭike tujhe — laṭike (false) mine, laṭike yours; laṭike ōjhe laṭikyāñce — laṭike burden of the laṭika. Laṭike gāye laṭike dhyāye — laṭike singing, laṭike meditating; laṭike jāye laṭikyāpe — laṭike going to the laṭika. Laṭikā bhōgī laṭikā tyāgī — (the) laṭika enjoyer, (the) laṭika renouncer; laṭikā jōgī jaga-māyā — (the) laṭika yogi — (the)jaga-māyā(world-illusion). Laṭikā Tukā laṭikyā bhāve — (the) laṭika Tukā — with laṭika bhāva; laṭike bōle laṭikyā-save — laṭike speaks — with the laṭika.
What it means
A canonical 5-verse laṭika-refrain verse. The word laṭika (false, illusory, vain, untrue) is hammered-into every-line — the verse functions as a māyā-recognition mantra.
Verse 1 — emotion is false: laṭike hāse laṭike raḍe — laṭike uḍe laṭikyāpe — false laughter, false weeping; false jumping with the false. The emotion-pairs (laughter, weeping, jumping-up) are all-false; even-the-companion is false.
Verse 2 — ownership is false: laṭike mājhe laṭike tujhe — laṭike ōjhe laṭikyāñce — false mine, false yours; false burden of the false. The possessive-ownership (mine, yours) is false; the burden of taking-care-of-the-false is itself false.
Verse 3 — practice is false: laṭike gāye laṭike dhyāye — laṭike jāye laṭikyāpe — false singing, false meditating; false going to the false. Even singing-the-Name and meditation — when done from-māyā-mode — are false. Going-to-the-false — paths-and-pilgrimages to false-deities.
Verse 4 — sādhaka-states are false: laṭikā bhōgī laṭikā tyāgī — laṭikā jōgī jaga-māyā — false enjoyer, false renouncer; false yogi — (this is) jaga-māyā. The three classical-states (bhōgī = enjoyer; tyāgī = renouncer; jōgī = yogi) are all-false in jaga-māyā mode.
Verse 5 (close) — Tukā himself is false: laṭikā Tukā laṭikyā bhāve — laṭike bōle laṭikyā-save — false Tukā — with false bhāva; false speaks — with the false. The radical-self-inclusion: Tukārām himself, in māyā-mode, is false; even-his-bhāva is false; even his-speech-is-false-with-the-false. The mirror-image: everything-on-the-māyā-side-is-false, including the apparent-bhakta-himself.
This is one of THE most-radical māyā-recognition texts in the corpus. The verse names-itself-as-laṭika — even-the-very-recital is included-in-the-laṭika. (The implicit-positive: only the Lord is not-laṭika.)
For someone today
This is one of Tuka's most radical meditations on illusion. He repeats the word false again and again, applying it to everything: false laughter, false weeping, false joy shared with someone equally false. What I call mine and what I call yours is false, and even the burden of guarding these false things is false. Singing devotional songs, meditating, going on pilgrimage — all of this is false if it comes from an unreal, self-serving place rather than genuine feeling. The classic postures of enjoyer, renouncer, and yogi are all just as false, all part of the world's illusion. And most striking of all, Tuka turns this same judgment on himself: even his own devotion, if it's performed rather than truly felt, is false, and his very words about it are false too. By including himself in the critique, he leaves no room for spiritual pride — the only thing left unnamed as false, by implication, is the Lord and true, wholehearted devotion.
मराठी: ही तुकाराम महाराजांची मायेवरची सर्वात मूलगामी रचना आहे. ते 'लटिकें' (खोटे) हा शब्द वारंवार वापरून प्रत्येक गोष्टीला लावतात — खोटे हसणे, खोटे रडणे, खोट्यासोबतचा खोटा आनंद. मी म्हणतो ते माझे आणि तुझे म्हणतो ते तुझे — हेही खोटेच, आणि या खोट्या गोष्टी सांभाळण्याचे ओझेही खोटेच. भजन गाणे, ध्यान करणे, तीर्थयात्रेला जाणे — हे सगळेही खोटे ठरते, जर ते खऱ्या भावनेतून न येता केवळ अहंकारातून येत असेल. भोगी, त्यागी आणि योगी या ठराविक भूमिकाही तितक्याच खोट्या आहेत, त्या साऱ्या जगाच्या मायेचाच भाग आहेत. आणि सर्वात लक्षणीय म्हणजे तुकाराम महाराज हाच निर्णय स्वतःवरही लावतात — त्यांची स्वतःची भक्तीसुद्धा, जर ती केवळ देखावा असेल, खरी न वाटता, तर ती खोटी आहे, आणि त्याबद्दलचे त्यांचे शब्दही खोटेच. स्वतःलाही या टीकेत सामील करून घेतल्याने अध्यात्मिक अहंकाराला कुठलीही जागा उरत नाही — फक्त परमेश्वर आणि खरीखुरी, मनापासूनची भक्ती हीच अखोटी उरते, हे अप्रत्यक्षपणे सुचवले जाते.
Where this applies
- THE canonical laṭika-laṭika māyā refrain
- Recognizing the māyā-as-false radical-claim
- Even-the-bhakta's-bhāva-is-laṭika — Tukārām's-radical-self-inclusion
- A māyā-recognition mantra for daily-recital
- The implicit-positive: only the Lord is not-laṭika