Abhanga 3061
Chiraguṭe ghālūnī vāḍhavile pōṭa — putting in a chiraguṭa (rag), (she) has grown the belly; garhvāra bōbhāṭa janāmadhye — the pregnancy-cry is in public.
The verse
चिरगुटें घालूनि वाढविलें पोट । गर्हवार बोभाट जनामध्यें ॥१॥
लटिके चि डोहळे दाखवी प्रकार । दुध स्तनीं पोर पोटीं नाहीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे अंतीं वांज चि ते खरी । फजिती दुसरी जनामध्यें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Chiraguṭe ghālūnī vāḍhavile pōṭa — putting in a chiraguṭa (rag), (she) has grown the belly; garhvāra bōbhāṭa janāmadhye — the pregnancy-cry is in public. Laṭike chi ḍōhaḷe dākhavī prakāra — (she) shows false ḍōhaḷe (pregnancy-cravings) in (various) prakāra; dudha stanīm pōra pōṭīm nāhī — no milk in breast, no child in belly. Tukā mhaṇe antīm vāmja chi te kharī — Tukā says: at end, the vāmja (barrenness) is the real (truth); phajitī dusarī janāmadhye — the second phajitī (shame) is in public.
What it means
A striking 3-verse fake-pregnancy parable by Tukārām.
The image: A barren-woman stuffs-rag-to-fake-pregnancy-belly; makes-public-cry-of-pregnancy; displays-fake-cravings-in-various-modes; but-no-milk-in-breast, no-child-in-belly; at-the-end, the-barren-truth comes-out, causing-double-public-shame.
The application: the fake-bhakta makes-external-display-of-bhakti-stages without-internal-substance; eventually the-emptiness shows-and-double-shame-results. Compare-the-anti-distorted-priorities cluster (3052-3057) and-the-anti-fake-guru text (2962).
The image is unusual in-bhakti-poetry — the fake-pregnancy metaphor is specifically-domestic-and-female and-relies on-the-stark-finality of-the-end-revelation. The double-shame (first-the-charade, then-the-exposure) is striking.
For someone today
Tukārām's fake-pregnancy parable. Putting in a rag, (she) has grown (her) belly; the pregnancy-cry is in public. (She) shows false pregnancy-cravings in (various) modes; but there is no milk in (her) breast, no child in (her) belly. At the end, the barren-status is the real (truth); the second shame (comes) in public. The verse permits the diagnostic of-fake-bhakti-as-fake-pregnancy: external-show-without-internal-substance-is-eventually-exposed.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's fake-pregnancy-as-fake-bhakti parable
- Striking unusual-domestic-metaphor
- Double-shame: charade + exposure canonical-trope
- Companion to 2962, 3052-3057