Abhanga 3202
Claiming to want nothing while still chasing favor and surrounding yourself with followers is hollow renunciation, since outward show and real character can be entirely different things.
The verse
तरी कां वोळगणे । राजद्वारीं होती सुने ॥१॥
अंगीं दावुनि निष्कामता । पोकळ पोकळी ते वृथा ॥ध्रु.॥
कासया मोकळ । भोंवतें शिष्यांचे गाबाळ ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ढाळे । बाहेर गुदे तें निराळें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Otherwise-vōḷagaṇe at-rāja-dvāra is-dog-state. Showing-niṣkāma in-body, pōkaḷa is vrthā. Why-the-mōkaḷa with-shiṣya-gabāḷa? Tukā: outward-(show), the-gude-(interior)-is-different.
What it means
A 3-verse anti-fake-renunciate polemic. Begging-at-royal-court is-dog-state for-the-supposedly-niṣkāma; the-shiṣya-cluster-shows-the-fake-status.
For someone today
Tukaram calls out fake renunciation here. If someone claims to want nothing, yet still hangs around royal courts waiting and fawning for favor, that waiting is no better than a dog's life. Wearing the outward look of desirelessness while your body still chases position is hollow, and it comes to nothing. And why does a supposedly free soul need a whole cluttered crowd of disciples trailing behind? Tukaram says the outward show and the real interior can be two very different things, so look past appearances to what's actually there.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे खोट्या वैराग्याला उघडे पाडतात. जर कोणी काही नको म्हणतो, पण तरीही राजदरबारात मानमरातब मिळवण्यासाठी घुटमळत असेल, तर ते वागणे कुत्र्याच्या जिण्यासारखेच आहे. शरीरावर निष्कामतेचा दिखावा ठेवून मन मात्र मानाच्या मागे धावत असेल, तर तो दिखावा पोकळ आहे आणि व्यर्थ ठरतो. आणि खरोखर मुक्त असलेल्याला शिष्यांच्या गर्दीचा गोतावळा कशासाठी हवा? तुकाराम म्हणतात, बाहेरचा देखावा आणि आतले खरे रूप हे पूर्णपणे वेगळे असू शकते, म्हणून दिखाव्यापलीकडे बघा.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's anti-fake-renunciate polemic