Abhanga 2872
Tukaram accepts being pushed to the margins of formal religion without resentment, treating even his low status and leftover share as something God gave him, not a disgrace.
The verse
परतें मी आहें सहज चि दुरी । वेगळें भिकारी नामरूपा ॥१॥
न लगे रुसावें धरावा संकोच । सहज तें नीच आलें भागा ॥ध्रु.॥
पडिलिये ठायीं उच्छिष्ट सेवावें । आरते तें चि देवें केलें ऐसें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तुम्ही आम्हां जी वेगळे । केलेती निराळे द्विज देवें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Parate mī āhe sahaja chi dūrī — I amparate(away, on the other-side), naturallydūrī(far); vegaḷe bhikāri nāma-rūpā — avegaḷā bhikāri(separate-beggar) fromNāma-rūpa(Name-form). Na lage rusāve dharāvā sankocha — (one) need not be angry, (need not) hold back; sahaja te nīcha āle bhāgā — naturally thenīcha(low) has come to (my) share. Paḍiliye ṭhāyī ucchiṣṭa sevāve — in thepaḍiliye ṭhāyī(fallen-place), (I should) eatucchiṣṭa(leftovers); ārate te chi Deve kele aise — theārate(the eager, the requesting-thing) — Deva has made (it) such. Tukā says: tumhī āmhām jī vegaḷe — you, sir, have (made) us separate; keletī nirāḷe dvija Deve — Deva has made (us)nirāḷe(distinct) from thedvija(twice-born).
What it means
A 3-verse caste-marginality-as-Deva-given declaration. Parate mī āhe sahaja chi dūrī — vegaḷe bhikāri nāma-rūpā — I am away, naturally far — a separate-beggar from Nāma-rūpa. The opening self-positioning: I am vegaḷā (separate) from the Nāma-rūpa (the named-formal-religion); I am a bhikāri (beggar).
Na lage rusāve dharāvā sankocha — sahaja te nīcha āle bhāgā — don't be angry, don't hold back — naturally the low has come to my share. The acceptance: the nīcha-status came-naturally to me; no point in resentment.
Paḍiliye ṭhāyī ucchiṣṭa sevāve — ārate te chi Deve kele aise — in the fallen-place, eat leftovers — the eager-one — Deva has made (it) such. The discipline: eat ucchiṣṭa (leftovers) in the fallen-place. The ārate (eager, requesting) — Deva has made (the eager-one — the bhakta-himself) such.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe tumhī āmhām jī vegaḷe — keletī nirāḷe dvija Deve — you, sir, have (made) us separate — Deva has made (us) distinct from the dvija (twice-born). The radical-caste-claim: Deva-himself made-us-separate from the dvija-class. The caste-marginality is Deva-given, not accidental.
This is a Tukārām-self-positioning text — paired with 2755's śūdra-vamśī and 2742's yātī-hīna declarations. The bhakta accepts-his-low-status as Deva-given, eats-the-ucchiṣṭa-prasāda, and-becomes-a-vegaḷā-bhikāri-from-the-formal-religion. The status-low is not-resented but accepted-as-Deva-given.
For someone today
In this verse Tukaram names himself as an outsider to formal, established religion, more like a beggar standing apart than someone inside the temple gates. He does not ask you to be bitter about that; a low place simply came his way, and he says so plainly instead of pretending otherwise. He accepts leftovers as his share and calls even his distance from the privileged, twice born class something God made, not an accident or a disgrace. That turns what could feel like humiliation into something he can carry with quiet dignity. When life or other people push you to the margins, this shows that you do not need anger to hold onto your own worth.
मराठी: या अभंगात तुकाराम स्वतःला औपचारिक धर्माच्या बाहेरचा, जणू मंदिराच्या उंबरठ्याबाहेरचा भिकारी असल्यासारखे सांगतात. यामुळे रागावण्याची गरज नाही असे ते म्हणतात, कारण हलकी जागा त्यांच्या वाट्याला सहजच आली आहे, आणि ते हे उघडपणे मान्य करतात. उरलेले अन्न, कमी वाटा हाच आपला भाग मानून ते स्वीकारतात आणि सांगतात की वरच्या वर्गापासूनचे हे अंतरही देवानेच ठरवले आहे, ती काही लाज नाही. यामुळे जे अपमानासारखे वाटू शकते तेच ते शांत मनाने स्वीकारतात. जेव्हा आयुष्य किंवा इतर लोक तुम्हाला बाजूला ढकलतात, तेव्हा रागाशिवायही स्वतःची किंमत टिकवता येते हे हा अभंग दाखवतो.
Where this applies
- When you feel like an outsider looking in on a formal institution or religion
- When you are handed the smallest share or the leftovers and resentment starts to rise
- When someone looks down on you because of your background or status
- When you want to accept a hard circumstance honestly without pretending it doesn't hurt or exploding in anger