Abhanga 2901
Lōka mhaṇatī maja Deva — people call me Deva; hā tōm adharma upāva — this is an adharma-upāya (unrighteous-device, wrong-method).
The verse
लोक म्हणती मज देव । हा तों अधर्म उपाव ॥१॥
आतां कळेल तें करीं । सीस तुझे हातीं सुरी ॥ध्रु.॥
अधिकार नाहीं । पूजा करिती तैसा कांहीं ॥२॥
मन जाणे पापा । तुका म्हणे मायबापा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Lōka mhaṇatī maja Deva — people call me Deva; hā tōm adharma upāva — this is an adharma-upāya (unrighteous-device, wrong-method). Ātām kaḷel te karī — now do what you know (to do); sīsa tujhe hātī surī — (my) sīsa (head) is in your hand — (and) the surī (knife). Adhikāra nāhī — (I) have no adhikāra (qualification, right); pūjā karitī taisā kāmhī — (yet some) do pūjā like that, (treating me as Deva), (in some way). Mana jāṇe pāpā — (my) mana knows the pāpa; Tukā says: māyabāpā — (O) mother-father.
What it means
A striking 3-verse honest-self-position verse. Lōka mhaṇatī maja Deva — hā tōm adharma upāva — people call me Deva — this is an adharma-upāya — an unrighteous device, a wrong-thing, a mis-stepping.
The opening-position is honest-and-dangerous: Tukārām notes that people are calling-him-Deva (people-treating-him-as-divinely-special, possibly worshipping-him directly). He calls this adharma-upāya — a wrong-method, an unrighteous-arrangement. (The reason: no human-bhakta should be worshipped as Deva; that-is-fake.)
Ātām kaḷel te karī — sīsa tujhe hātī surī — now do what you know — my head is in your hand (with) a knife. The radical-petition: cut-my-head if-need-be — i.e., take-stern-measures. The bhakta-offers-his-head to be-corrected.
Adhikāra nāhī — pūjā karitī taisā kāmhī — I have no adhikāra — yet (some) do pūjā (treating-me-as-Deva). The honest-confession: I have no qualification to be-worshipped-as-Deva; yet-people-do-it-anyway.
Mana jāṇe pāpā — Tukā mhaṇe māyabāpā — my mana knows the pāpa — mother-father. The closing-claim: my-mana knows-the-pāpa (the wrongness of being treated as Deva). O Lord, intervene.
The verse pairs with 2832-2833 (anti-self-styled-Deva-witness) but turns the polemic inward — Tukārām doesn't-accept-being-treated-as-Deva. He recognizes-the-danger and asks-the-Lord-to-correct-it.
For someone today
A canonical Tukārām honest-self-position. People call me Deva — this is an unrighteous device. Now do what you know — my head is in your hand with a knife. I have no adhikāra — yet (some) do pūjā. My mana knows the pāpa — mother-father. The verse permits the genuine-bhakta's-refusal of being-treated-as-divine: (1) people-calling-me-Deva is adharma-upāya; (2) take-stern-measures to correct it; (3) I have-no-adhikāra; (4) my-mana knows-the-pāpa. The diagnostic: if a bhakta accepts-being-treated-as-Deva, he himself is in the adharma-upāya. The genuine-bhakta recognizes-and-resists.
Where this applies
- The canonical Tukārām people-call-me-Deva-but-I-have-no-adhikāra honest-self-position
- Recognizing being-treated-as-Deva-by-people is dangerous warning
- Mana-knows-pāpa — Tukārām's own-knowledge of his-own-faults
- Pairs with 2832-2833 (anti-self-styled-Deva-witness) and 2859 (spit-Tukā-out)