Abhanga 3741
What you do freely without shame, and what embarrasses you, reveals your real priorities more honestly than what you claim to value.
The verse
देवाचें चरित्र नाठवे सर्वथा । विनोदार्थ कथा गोड वाटे ॥१॥
हातावरि हात हासोनि आफळी । वाजवितां टाळी लाज वाटे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे थुंका त्याच्या तोंडावरि । जातो यमपुरी भोगावया ॥३॥
Literal translation
Devāñce charitra nāṭhave sarvathā — no recall of deva-charitra at-all; vinōdārtha kathā gōḍa vāṭe — vinōda-kathā feels gōḍa. Hātāvari hāta hāsōnī āphaḷī — hand-on-hand, laughing-clapping; vājavitām tāḷī lāja vāṭe — when playing tāḷī, feels lāja. Tukā mhaṇe thunkā tyāñcyā tōṇḍāvari — Tukā says: spit on his face; jātō yama-purī bhōgāvayā — he goes to yama-puri for bhōga.
What it means
A short 3-verse anti-jest-over-bhakti polemic by Tukārām.
The contrast: No-recall-of-deva-charitra, but vinōda-jokes feel-sweet; hands-clap-freely-in-jest, but feel-ashamed-to-clap-tāḷī-in-kīrtana. Closing-curse: spit-on-face, going-to-yama-puri.
The polemic targets-the-householder who shames-bhakti-performance in-public while-freely-engaging-in-jest-and-gossip. Companion to anti-distorted-priorities cluster (3052-3057).
For someone today
Tukārām's anti-jest polemic. (He has) no recall of Lord's deeds at all; gossip-jokes feel sweet (to him). Hand-on-hand, clapping, laughing — (he does freely); but when playing the cymbal (in kīrtana), he feels shame. Spit on his face — he goes to yama-puri for punishment. The verse permits this diagnostic: someone who feels free and easy in idle jest, yet feels ashamed to openly practice bhakti.
मराठी: तुकारामांची ही टवाळकीविरुद्धची टीका. त्याला देवाच्या लीलांची अजिबात आठवण नसते; पण गप्पा-गोष्टी, थट्टा-मस्करी त्याला गोड वाटते. टाळ्या वाजवत, हसत-खिदळत तो मोकळेपणाने वागतो; पण कीर्तनात टाळ वाजवायची वेळ आली की त्याला लाज वाटते. तुकाराम म्हणतात — अशाच्या तोंडावर थुंकावे, तो यमपुरीत भोग भोगायला जातो. या ओवीत हा निकष मांडला आहे — जो थट्टा-मस्करीत मोकळा आणि निर्लज्ज असतो, पण खुल्या भक्तीची लाज बाळगतो, त्याचे खरे प्राधान्य उघड होते.
Where this applies
- When you laugh easily at gossip or jokes but feel embarrassed to openly express something you actually believe in
- When you notice you spend more energy remembering trivial talk than anything genuinely meaningful
- When you catch yourself hiding a sincere practice or belief out of fear of looking foolish in front of others
- When you realize what you're willing to do without shame says more about your priorities than what you claim to value