संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.
संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3542 of 4582

Abhanga 3542

Tukārām's anti-fake-bhajaka. Bhajana has been spoiled by (this) pretender — by fondness for ostentation and laziness. (He) doesn't eat the ready-cooked food — but spoils the buttermilk by over-churning. All-at-once (he) wants the honored-seat — but doesn't know the servitor-role of how to eat. Of (such) gilding — the real binding shows at the end. The verse permits the canonical anti-pretender polemic with-gilded-binding closing.

Tukārām's anti-fake-bhajaka, gilded-binding-shows-at-end polemic
Companion to 3061 (fake-pregnancy), 3063 (mercenary-monkeys)

The verse

भजन या नासिलें हेडि । दंभा लंडा आवडी ॥१॥ जेवीत ना आइता पाक । नासी ताक घुसळूनि ॥ध्रु.॥ एकाएकीं इच्छी पाठ । नेणे चाट कां जेवूं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मुलाम्याचें । बंधन साचें सेवटीं ॥३॥

Literal translation

Bhajana yā nāsile heḍībhajana spoiled by (this) heḍī; dambha laṇḍā āvaḍīby fondness for dambha and laṇḍa. Jevīta nā āitā pāka(he) doesn't eat the ready-cooked food; nāsī tāka ghusaḷūnīspoils the tāka by over-churning. Eka-ekīm ichchhī pāṭhaall-at-once wants the pāṭha; neṇe chāṭa kām jevūmdoesn't know the chāṭa, how to eat. Tukā mhaṇe mulāmyāñceTukā says: of (such) mulāmā; bandhana sāche sevaṭīmthe real bandhana (shows) at the end.

What it means

A short 3-verse anti-fake-bhajaka polemic by Tukārām. The 3 contrasts of-the-pretender: (1) fondness-for-dambha-and-laṇḍa spoils-bhajana; (2) refuses-ready-food-but-spoils-buttermilk by-over-churning; (3) wants-the-pāṭha (honored-seat) but-doesn't-know-chāṭa (servitor-role). The closing: gilded-binding shows-at-end — fake-plating reveals-its-real-substance eventually.

Compare-Tukārām's 3061 (fake-pregnancy), 3063 (mercenary-monkeys), 3052-3057 (anti-distorted-priorities cluster).

For someone today

Tukārām's anti-fake-bhajaka. Bhajana has been spoiled by (this) pretender — by fondness for ostentation and laziness. (He) doesn't eat the ready-cooked food — but spoils the buttermilk by over-churning. All-at-once (he) wants the honored-seat — but doesn't know the servitor-role of how to eat. Of (such) gilding — the real binding shows at the end. The verse permits the canonical anti-pretender polemic with-gilded-binding closing.

Where this applies

Related verses