संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3700 of 4582

Abhanga 3700

Pride keeps the body and tongue from the humble devotion they were meant for, and no outward washing can clean an impurity that is really inside.

When you notice a gift meant for something good has drifted toward lesser habits

When pride keeps your neck too stiff to bow or your words too proud to be humble

When you look for a way to clean an inner impurity that no ordinary washing can reach

The verse

देवें दिला देह भजना गोमटा । तों या जाला भांटा बाधिकेच्या ॥१॥ ताठोनियां मान राहिली वरती । अहंकारा हातीं लवों नल्हे ॥ध्रु.॥ दास म्हणावया न वळे रसना । सइरवचना बासे गळा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे कोठें ठेवावा विटाळ । स्नानें नीर्मळ व्हावयासी ॥३॥

Literal translation

Deva-gave-deha-gōmaṭa — bhāṇṭā-by-bādhikā. Māna-stiff-up — ahankāra-hand-won't-bow. Rasanā-doesn't-turn-to-dāsa — sair-vachanā-chokes-gaḷā. Tukā: where-deposit-viṭāḷa — nirmaḷa-by-snāna.

What it means

A 3-verse body-hired-out text. Deva gave the body sweetly for bhajan — but it's been rented-out to impurity; the neck is stiff in ahankāra; the tongue won't say 'dāsa' — wandering-words choke the throat; where to deposit the impurity, that I become nirmaḷa by snāna?

For someone today

Tukārām admits that this body was given to him for a good purpose, to sing and worship, but somewhere along the way it got taken over by lesser things. His neck stays stiff with pride and will not bow, and his tongue will not even call itself a servant, choking instead on careless, wandering talk. He ends by asking a real question, where can he even wash off this inner impurity, since ordinary bathing only cleans the skin. This is the honest moment of noticing that your body and words were meant for something better, and pride is what keeps you from bowing to it.

मराठी: तुकाराम कबूल करतात की हे शरीर त्यांना एका चांगल्या हेतूसाठी, गाण्यासाठी आणि भजनासाठी दिले गेले होते, पण कुठेतरी वाटेत ते क्षुद्र गोष्टींच्या ताब्यात गेले. त्यांची मान अहंकाराने ताठ राहते आणि झुकत नाही, आणि त्यांची जीभ स्वतःला 'दास' म्हणायलाही तयार होत नाही, त्याऐवजी बेफिकीर, भरकटलेल्या बोलण्यात गुदमरते. शेवटी ते खरा प्रश्न विचारतात, हा आतला विटाळ कुठे धुवावा, कारण साध्या स्नानाने फक्त त्वचा स्वच्छ होते. हा तो प्रामाणिक क्षण आहे जेव्हा लक्षात येते की आपले शरीर आणि शब्द एका चांगल्या गोष्टीसाठी दिलेले होते, आणि अहंकारच त्यापुढे झुकण्यापासून रोखतो.

Where this applies

When you realize a gift or ability meant for something meaningful has been wasted on lesser habits
When your pride keeps you too stiff-necked to bow, apologize, or admit you need help
When your words come out careless and scattered instead of the sincere ones you meant to say
When you sense an inner impurity that no amount of outward cleaning or ritual can wash away