Abhanga 3113
Tukaram teaches that true purity isn't ritual cleanliness but equanimity, letting go of mine and yours and treating gain, loss, honor, and dishonor the same.
The verse
सरतें माझें तुझें । तरि हें उतरतें ओझें ॥१॥
न लगे सांडावें मांडावें । आहे शुद्ध चि स्वभावें ॥ध्रु.॥
घातला तो आशा । मोहोजाळें गळां फासा ॥२॥
सुखदुःखाचा तो मान । नाहीं दुःखाचा तो शीण ॥३॥
करितां नारायण । एवढें वेचितां वचन ॥४॥
लाभ हानि हे समान । तैसा मान अपमान ॥५॥
तुका म्हणे याचें । नांव सोंवळें साचें ॥६॥
Literal translation
Sarate mājhe tujhe — (when) mine-yours melts; tari he utarate ōjhe — then this burden comes-down. Na lage sāṇḍāve māṇḍāve — no need of rejecting or establishing; āhe śuddha chi svabhāve — (it is) śuddha by svabhāva. Ghātalā tō āśā — the (noose) was placed (by) āśā; mōhōjāḷe gaḷām phāsā — mōha-jāḷa, a noose on the throat. Sukhaduḥkhāñcā tō māna — no māna of sukha-duḥkha; nāhī duḥkhāñcā tō śīṇa — no śīṇa of duḥkha. Karitām Nārāyaṇa — doing Nārāyaṇa; evaḍhe vechitām vachana — with this much vachana-vechana. Lābha hāni he samāna — lābha-hāni is equal; taisā māna apamāna — so māna-apamāna. Tukā mhaṇe yāñce — Tukā says: of this; nāva sōmvaḷe sāche — the (true) name is sōmvaḷe sāche.
What it means
A canonical 6-verse true-purity text by Tukārām — among-the-most-foundational anti-ritual-purity texts.
The argument-arc: 1. Mine-yours-melts → burden-comes-down (the-fundamental-shift) 2. No-need-of-rejecting-or-establishing → pure-by-svabhāva (no-effort-needed) 3. Āśā and mōha-jāḷa-noose came-from-elsewhere (placed) — the-impurity-is-imposed-not-essential 4. No-sukha-duḥkha-māna; no-duḥkha-śīṇa (equanimity) 5. Doing-Nārāyaṇa with-this-much-word-spent (Name-as-only-activity) 6. Lābha-hāni-equal, māna-apamāna-same → THIS-IS-the-sōmvaḷe-sāche
The closing-claim is foundational: the-true-sōmvaḷe (purity, formal-ritual-purity) is this-non-discrimination of-lābha-hāni-māna-apamāna — not the-ritual-bath-or-formal-purity-marks. Compare-Tukārām's-3052/3056 (anti-distorted-priorities — veśyā-considered-sōmvaḷe critique) and-3112 (bhūmi-all-pure).
This-claim reframes Vārkarī-tradition's stance: traditional-sōmvaḷe (purity, food-purity, body-purity) is-set-aside; the-real-sōmvaḷe is equanimity.
For someone today
Tukārām's teaching on true purity. When the sense of mine and yours melts away, this burden lifts. There is no need to reject or establish anything — it is pure by its own nature. It is craving that ties the noose of the net of delusion around your throat. There is no clinging to pleasure or pain, no wearing down by sorrow. Simply speaking the name Nārāyaṇa, with just this much said — gain and loss become equal; honor and dishonor become the same. Tukā says: the true name for this is real purity. The verse allows this classic claim against ritual purity: real purity is equanimity toward gain, loss, honor, and dishonor.
मराठी: तुकारामांची ही खऱ्या पवित्रतेची शिकवण आहे. माझे-तुझे हा भाव विरघळला की हे ओझे उतरते. काही टाकण्याची किंवा मांडण्याची गरज नाही — ते स्वभावतःच शुद्ध आहे. आशा आणि मोहाचे जाळे हेच गळ्याभोवतीचा फास बनते. सुखदुःखाची फिकीर नाही, दुःखाचा शीणही नाही. केवळ नारायण नाम घेतल्याने — लाभ-हानी सारखेच होतात, मान-अपमानही सारखेच. तुका म्हणतो: याचेच खरे नाव सोवळे-साचे. हा अभंग विधीनुसार शुद्धतेला नाकारणारा हा पारंपरिक दावा मान्य करतो: खरी पवित्रता म्हणजे लाभ, हानी, मान आणि अपमान यांबाबतची समभावना.
Where this applies
- Canonical sōmvaḷe-sāche (true-purity) text
- Anti-ritual-purity foundational doctrine
- Companion to 3112 (bhūmi-all-pure), 3052/3056 (anti-distorted-priorities)