Abhanga 3775
Mhaṇauni kāya jīūm bhakta-paṇa — therefore why live as bhakta-hood; jāyāchīm bhūṣaṇe aḷamkāra — (when) ornaments and decorations will go.
The verse
म्हणउनि काय जीऊं भक्तपण । जायाचीं भूषणें अळंकार ॥१॥
आपुल्या कष्टाची करूनियां जोडी । मिरवीन उघडी इच्छावसें ॥ध्रु.॥
तुके तरि तुकीं खर्याचे उत्तम । मुलाम्याच्या भ्रम कोठवरि ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे पुढें आणि मागें फांस । पावें ऐसा नास न करीं देवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Mhaṇauni kāya jīūm bhakta-paṇa — therefore why live as bhakta-hood; jāyāchīm bhūṣaṇe aḷamkāra — (when) ornaments and decorations will go. Āpulyā kaṣṭāchī karūniyām jōḍī — making the joining of my own toil; miravīna ughaḍī ichchhāvase — I will display openly according to wish. Tuke tari tukīm kharyāche uttama — when weighed on the balance, only the true is best; mulāmyāchyā bhrama kōṭhavari — how far the delusion of gilding? Tukā mhaṇe puḍhem āṇi māgem phāmsa — Tukā says: ahead and behind, a snare; pāvem aisā nāsa na karīm devā — do not bring about such ruin, Deva.
What it means
A 3-verse anti-pretense polemic with the merchant's balance image. Why-be-a-decorative-bhakta? — ornaments-perish; I'll-display-only-the-jōḍī-of-my-own-toil; on-the-balance only-the-true-is-uttama — how-far-can-gilding-deceive?; ahead-and-behind a-snare — Deva, don't-cause-this-ruin. The mulāmā (gilding) image was current in Tukārām's market vocabulary.
For someone today
Tukārām: gilding-is-found-out-on-the-weighing-balance; only-the-true-survives — protect-me-from-the-snare-of-pretense.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's only-true-on-balance + mulāmā-gilding canonical
- Companion to kasī-pārakhī realization-test (2866)