Abhanga 2971
Nāma na vade jyāñcī vāchā — (he) whose vāchā (speech) does not utter the Name; tō lemka dō bāpāñcā — he is the lemka (son) of two fathers (= illegitimate).
The verse
नाम न वदे ज्याची वाचा । तो लेंक दो बापांचा ॥१॥
हे चि ओळख तयाची । खूण जाणा अभक्ताची ॥ध्रु.॥
ज्याची विठ्ठल नाहीं ठावा । त्याचा संग न करावा ॥२॥
नाम न म्हणे ज्याचें तोंड । तें चि चर्मकाचें कुंड ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे त्याचे दिवशीं । रांड गेली महारापाशीं ॥४॥
Literal translation
Nāma na vade jyāñcī vāchā — (he) whose vāchā (speech) does not utter the Name; tō lemka dō bāpāñcā — he is the lemka (son) of two fathers (= illegitimate). He chi ōḷakha tayāñcī — this is the recognition of him; khūṇa jāṇā abhaktāñcī — know the khūṇa (mark) of the abhakta. Jyāñcī Viṭhṭhala nāhī ṭhāvā — (he) for whom Viṭhṭhal is not ṭhāvā (known); tyāñcā sanga na karāvā — don't keep company with him. Nāma na mhaṇe jyāñce tōṇḍa — (he) whose mouth does not say (the) Name; te chi charmakāñce kuṇḍa — that very (mouth) is the charmakā's kuṇḍa (cobbler's-pit). Tukā says: tyāñce divaśī — on his day; rāṇḍa gelī mahārā-pāśī — the rāṇḍa (his wife) went to the mahāra (untouchable-caste, corpse-handler).
What it means
A striking 4-verse anti-non-bhakta polemic with 17th-c caste-pejorative imagery. The verse uses strongly-pejorative-caste-terms that-must-be-read-historically.
Verse 1: Nāma na vade jyāñcī vāchā — tō lemka dō bāpāñcā — whose mouth doesn't utter the Name — he is the lemka (son) of two fathers (= illegitimate). The strong-claim: the non-Name-sayer is illegitimate. (The cultural-implication: belongs-to-no-clear-line-of-descent.)
Dhrūpada: He chi ōḷakha tayāñcī — khūṇa jāṇā abhaktāñcī — this is the recognition — know the mark of the abhakta. The diagnostic.
Verse 2: Jyāñcī Viṭhṭhala nāhī ṭhāvā — tyāñcā sanga na karāvā — for whom Viṭṭhal is not known — don't keep company. The discipline: avoid-Viṭṭhal-less-company.
Verse 3: Nāma na mhaṇe jyāñce tōṇḍa — te chi charmakāñce kuṇḍa — mouth that doesn't say Name — is charmakā's-kuṇḍa (cobbler's pit, leather-tanning pit). The pejorative-image: the non-Name-saying-mouth is like-the-leather-tanning-pit (in-brahminical-purity-framework, the pit-of-the-leather-worker-caste was-considered-impure due-to-dead-animal-handling).
Close: Tukā mhaṇe tyāñce divaśī — rāṇḍa gelī mahārā-pāśī — on his day, the rāṇḍa (his wife) went to the mahāra (untouchable-caste, corpse-handler). This refers to a-specific-funerary-practice: the day-of-his-death (or perhaps the 12th-day rite), his-wife had to go-to-the-mahāra (the corpse-handler-caste-who-does-funerary-services). (In 17th-c-Maharashtra brahminical-framework, this was-considered-degrading.)
Note on context: This text is bound-to-its-17th-c-context and uses strongly-pejorative-caste-imagery. Importantly, Tukārām himself was born śūdra and his-democratization-of-bhakti elsewhere (2864 all-have-adhikāra, 2369 no-caste-in-Name, 2755 śūdra-vamśī) shows that-his-position-on-caste-was-complex. This text appears-to-use-the-caste-framework-of-his-time as a polemical-rhetoric-device against the abhakta, not as doctrinal-prescription. The diagnostic-element is non-Name-saying = signature-of-abhakta; the caste-images are vehicles-of-rhetorical-force.
For someone today
A 17th-c-anti-non-bhakta polemic — bound to time and uses caste-pejoratives. (He) whose mouth does not utter the Name — is the son of two fathers. This is the recognition — know the mark of the abhakta. For whom Viṭṭhal is not known — don't keep company. Mouth that doesn't say Name — is the cobbler's pit. On his day, the wife went to the mahāra. The diagnostic-claim: the abhakta-signature is the mouth-without-Nāma. The verse must-be-read-historically — the caste-images are 17th-c-rhetoric, not doctrinal-positions. Tukārām's bhakti-democratization elsewhere (2864, 2369, 2755) tempers-the-caste-content.
Where this applies
- 17th-c anti-non-bhakta polemic — bound to time and caste-pejoratives
- Recognizing abhakta-signature: mouth-without-Nāma
- Must-be-contextualized historically (Tukārām's-democratization-elsewhere tempers caste-content)
- Pairs with 2962 (anti-fake-guru), 2961 (Kali-prophecy)