Abhanga 3057
A person who eagerly seeks out shallow pleasures while treating prayer and true guidance as a burden is like a fly that abandons fragrance to sit happily in something foul.
The verse
राउळासी जातां त्रास मानी मोठा । बैसतो चोहोटां आदरेशीं ॥१॥
न करी स्नान संध्या म्हणे रामराम । गुरुगुडीचे प्रेम अहर्निशी ॥ध्रु.॥
देवाब्राम्हणासी जाईंना शरण । दासीचे चरण वंदी भावें ॥२॥
सुगंध चंदन सांडोनियां माशी । बसे दुगपधीशीं अतिआदरें ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे अरे ऐक भाग्यहीना । कां रे रामराणा विसरसी ॥४॥
Literal translation
Rāūḷāsī jātām trāsa mānī mōṭhā — going to the temple, (he) feels a great trāsa; baisatō chōhōṭām ādareśīm — sits in the chōhōṭā with ādara. Na karī snāna samdhyā mhaṇe Rāma Rāma — (he) doesn't do snāna-samdhyā, doesn't say Rāma-Rāma; guruguḍīñce prema aharniśī — prema for the guruguḍī is day-and-night. Devā-brāmhaṇāsī jāīnā śaraṇa — doesn't go for śaraṇa to Deva or Brāhmaṇa; dāsīñce charaṇa vandī bhāve — bows to the dāsī's feet with bhāva. Sugamdha chamdana sāṇḍōnīyām māśī — like a fly, abandoning the sweet-sandal; base dugapadhīśīm atiādare — sits at the foul-smelling-place with extreme-ādara. Tukā mhaṇe are aika bhāgya-hīnā — Tukā says: hey listen, luckless-one; kām re Rāma-rāṇā visarasī — why do you forget Rāma-rāṇā.
What it means
A continuation of-the-anti-distorted-priorities cluster by Tukārām.
The 4 specific-contrasts: 1. Avoids-temple-with-annoyance / sits-in-public-square-with-eagerness 2. No-snāna-samdhyā-no-Rāma-Rāma / hookah-love-day-and-night 3. Doesn't-take-refuge-to-Deva-Brāhmaṇa / bows-to-dāsī's-feet-with-bhāva 4. Abandons-sweet-sandal-for-foul-smell (fly-image) — pure-rejected-for-foul
The Indo-Persian gurguḍī (water-pipe, hookah) is striking 17th-c Deccan-Mughal vocabulary. Hookah-prema-day-and-night points to-the-Mughal-era social-introduction-of-tobacco and-coffee-house-culture. The verse-targets householders who-have-adopted-Mughal-era-leisure-habits while-abandoning-traditional-bhakti.
The fly-image (māśī) is striking — the fly abandons-fragrance and-sits-at-foul-smelling-place with-extreme-ādara. The hypocritical-householder is like-this-fly.
Closing-rhetoric: hey-bhāgya-hīna, why-do-you-forget-Rāma-rāṇā? — direct-rhetorical-address to-the-hypocrite.
Compare-the-cluster (3052/3053/3056/3057) and-3025 (Kānhōbā's Kali-prophecy with Mughal-references).
For someone today
Tukārām's anti-distorted-priorities polemic. Going to the temple, (he) feels a great annoyance — but sits in the public-square with eagerness. (He) doesn't do snāna, samdhyā — doesn't say Rāma-Rāma — but his love for the hookah is day-and-night. He doesn't go for refuge to Deva or Brāhmaṇa — but bows to the feet of the dāsī with bhāva. He abandons the sweet-sandal and sits at the foul-smelling-place with extreme-eagerness — like a fly. Hey, listen, luckless-one — why do you forget Rāma-rāṇā? The verse permits the diagnostic image of fly-like priorities, abandoning fragrance for a foul stench.
मराठी: तुकारामांचा हा विकृत प्राधान्यक्रमांविरुद्धचा अभंग आहे. देवळात जाताना त्याला मोठा त्रास वाटतो — पण चव्हाट्यावर मात्र आवडीने बसतो. तो स्नान-संध्या करत नाही — राम-राम म्हणत नाही — पण हुक्क्याचे प्रेम त्याला रात्रंदिवस असते. देव-ब्राह्मणाला शरण जात नाही — पण दासीच्या पायावर भावाने डोके ठेवतो. सुगंधी चंदन सोडून तो अत्यंत आवडीने घाणीच्या जागी बसतो — माशीसारखा. अरे, ऐक भाग्यहीना — रामराणाला का विसरतोस? या अभंगातून हे निदान प्रकट होते की काही लोक माशीसारखे असतात — सुगंध सोडून दुर्गंधीकडे आवडीने जातात.
Where this applies
- Anti-distorted-priorities cluster (with 3052/3053/3056)
- Indo-Persian gurguḍī (hookah) reference — Mughal-era Deccan vocabulary
- Fly-abandons-fragrance-for-foul-smell canonical-image
- Companion to 3025 (Kānhōbā's Kali-prophecy)