संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3570 of 4582

Abhanga 3570

Nāhīm devācā viśvāsa — no faith-in-Deva; karī samtāmchā upahāsa — makes mockery of sants.

Tukārām's bhāva-hīna-scoffer; calls-Deva-stone anti-scoffer indictment

The verse

नाहीं देवाचा विश्वास । करी संतांचा उपहास ॥१॥ त्याचे तोंडी पडे माती । हीन शूकराची जाती ॥ध्रु.॥ घोकुनी अक्षर । वाद छळणा करीत फिरे ॥२॥ म्हणे देवासी पाषाण । तुका म्हणे भावहीन ॥३॥

Literal translation

Nāhīm devācā viśvāsano faith-in-Deva; karī samtāmchā upahāsamakes mockery of sants. Tyāche tōmḍī paḍe mātīdust falls in his mouth; hīna śūkarāchī jātīlowly pig-class. Ghōkunī akṣaramumbling letters; vāda chhaḷaṇā karīta phiregoes about in debate-and-derision. Mhaṇe devāsī pāṣāṇasays to Deva: stone; Tukā mhaṇe bhāvahīnaTukā says: bhāva-hīna.

What it means

A 3-verse anti-scoffer indictment. One-who-mocks-sants and-calls-the-deity-a-mere-stone, who-goes-around debating and deriding by-his-akṣara-mumbling — is bhāva-hīna; dust-in-his-mouth; of-lowly-śūkara-jāti. The harshest of Tukārām's social-protest registers — naming the scoffer as a debased-class.

For someone today

The bhakta-and-the-scoffer cannot meet at the level of vāda (debate). The scoffer's deficiency is at the bhāva level — not the akṣara level.

Where this applies

Related verses