Abhanga 3040
Outward signs and costumes don't make you what you're imitating; be honestly what you are instead of performing a status you haven't earned.
The verse
दुधाळ गाढवी जरी जाली पाहे । पावेल ते काय धेनुसरी ॥१॥
कागाचिया गळा पुष्पाचिया माळा । हंसाची तो कळा काय जाणे ॥ध्रु.॥
मर्कटें अंघोळी लावियेले टिळे । ब्राम्हणाचे लीळे वर्तूं नेणे ॥२॥
जरी तो ब्राम्हण जाला कर्मभ्रष्ट । तुका म्हणे श्रेष्ठ तिहीं लोकीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Dudhāḷa gāḍhavī jarī jālī pāhe — even if a donkey-mare became milk-giving; pāvela te kāya dhenu sarī — would she reach the dhenu (cow) level. Kāgāñciyā gaḷā puṣpāñciyā māḷā — (if a) crow has a puṣpa-māḷā on (its) neck; hamsāñcī tō kaḷā kāya jāṇe — what does it know of the hamsa's kaḷā. Markaṭe anghōḷī lāviyele ṭiḷe — (a) markaṭa (monkey) bathed and adorned with tilakas; brāhmaṇāñce līḷe vartūm neṇe — does not know how to conduct-itself in brāhmaṇa-līlā. Jarī tō brāhmaṇa jālā karma-bhraṣṭa — even if that brāhmaṇa has become karma-bhraṣṭa; Tukā mhaṇe śreṣṭha tihīm lōkīm — Tukā says: (he is) śreṣṭha in three-worlds.
What it means
A 3-verse anti-imitation polemic by Tukārām, with a striking-and-nuanced caste-position.
The first-three-verses use animal-pretender-images: 1. Donkey-mare-giving-milk doesn't-reach-cow-level 2. Crow-with-flower-garland doesn't-know-hamsa-style 3. Monkey-with-tilakas doesn't-know-brāhmaṇa-conduct
The closing-claim is striking: even-karma-bhraṣṭa-brāhmaṇa is-śreṣṭha-in-three-worlds. This contrasts with-Tukārām's-anti-Brahmin-establishment-texts (2962 anti-fake-guru, 2755 śūdra-vamśī-autobiography) and-with-2973 (inner-quality-over-outer-jāti).
Nuanced reading: The verse is best-read as targeting pretenders-who-fake-brāhmaṇa-status, not-as-an-endorsement-of-caste-supremacy. The contrast-set is: (1) a donkey-pretending-to-be-cow, (2) a crow-with-puṣpa-mālā, (3) a monkey-with-tilakas. Tukārām's position seems-to-be: if-someone-is-genuinely-of-a-state, even-degraded that-state outweighs-the-pretense-of-another-state. This is consistent-with-his-svadharma-emphasis elsewhere — be-what-you-are, don't-pretend-otherwise.
Note: this position must-be-contextualized historically. The verse uses 17th-c imagery of caste-and-conduct-distinction that-doesn't-straightforwardly-map-to-modern-readings.
For someone today
Tukārām's anti-imitation polemic. Even if a donkey-mare became milk-giving — would she reach the cow's level? A crow with a flower-garland on (its) neck — what does it know of the hamsa's style? A monkey bathed and adorned with sacred-marks — does not know how to conduct itself in brāhmaṇa-manner. Even if that brāhmaṇa has become karma-bhraṣṭa — (he is) still greater in the three-worlds. The verse permits the recognition that pretense cannot replace a genuine state, even when that genuine state has been degraded.
मराठी: तुकारामांचा हा ढोंग व अनुकरणाविरुद्धचा अभंग आहे. गाढवीला जरी दूध येऊ लागले, तरी ती गाईची बरोबरी करू शकेल का? कावळ्याच्या गळ्यात फुलांची माळ घातली तरी त्याला हंसाची शैली काय कळणार? माकडाला स्नान घालून टिळे लावले तरी त्याला ब्राह्मणाचे आचरण कसे करावे हे कळत नाही. आणि तो ब्राह्मण जरी कर्मभ्रष्ट झाला असला, तरी तो तिन्ही लोकांत श्रेष्ठच राहतो. या अभंगातून हे स्पष्ट होते की ढोंग हे खऱ्या अवस्थेची जागा घेऊ शकत नाही, ती अवस्था अध:पतित झाली तरीसुद्धा.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's anti-imitation/anti-fake-bhakta polemic
- Nuanced caste-position — must-be-read-with 2755, 2962, 2973 for-balance
- Donkey/crow/monkey-pretender animal-imagery
- Bound-to-17th-c social-framework