Abhanga 3800
Keep hollow, quarrelsome talkers who lack real faith away from you, and stand up fearlessly to those who mock sincere devotion.
The verse
शब्दज्ञानी येऊं नेदीं दृष्टीपुढें । छळवादी कुडे अभक्त ते ॥१॥
जळो ते जाणींव जळो त्याचे दंभ । जळो त्याचें तोंड दुर्जनाचें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे येती दाटूनि छळाया । त्यांच्या बोडूं डोया न धरूं भीड ॥३॥
Literal translation
Don't-let-śabda-jñānī-before-eyes — chaḷavādī-kuḍē-abhakta. Burn-jñāna-burn-dambha-burn-tongue-of-durjana. Tukā: if-they-come-to-torment-in-crowd — shave-their-heads — no-fear.
What it means
A 3-verse anti-śabda-jñānī polemic with the jaḷō refrain (echoing 3795). Don't let the word-knower come before my eyes — he is quarrelsome, false, faithless. Burn his knowing, burn his pride, burn his tongue. When they come crowding to torment, we will shave their heads — no fear held. The line bōḍūm-ḍōyā (shave-their-heads — a public-humiliation custom in 17th-c. Maharashtra for criminals/disgrace) is fierce social-language. The jaḷō refrain here is a focused-fire version of the broader 3795 jaḷō-mantra.
For someone today
Tukaram fires off a sharp warning here about people who are all clever words and no real faith: he says don't even let such a quarrelsome, false, faithless talker come near you. He wants their empty cleverness, their pride, and their mocking tongue burned away entirely. And when a crowd of these people shows up to mock and torment sincere devotees, he says he will stand up to them boldly and without any fear or hesitation. It's Tukaram at his fiercest, defending genuine devotion against people who use clever talk to tear it down.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे स्पष्ट शब्दांत इशारा देतात, अशा लोकांबद्दल जे फक्त हुशार बोलतात पण ज्यांच्यात खरी श्रद्धा नसते: असा भांडखोर, खोटा, श्रद्धाहीन बोलणारा माणूस जवळही येऊ देऊ नका असे ते म्हणतात. त्यांची पोकळ हुशारी, त्यांचा गर्व आणि त्यांची टोमणे मारणारी जीभ पूर्णपणे जळून जावी अशी ते इच्छा व्यक्त करतात. आणि जेव्हा असे लोक टोळक्याने येऊन खऱ्या भक्तांची थट्टा करतात आणि त्यांना त्रास देतात, तेव्हा ते कोणतीही भीती न बाळगता ठामपणे त्यांच्या विरोधात उभे राहतील असे सांगतात. हा तुकारामांचा सर्वात आक्रमक सूर आहे, जो खऱ्या भक्तीचे हुशार पण पोकळ बोलण्याने ती मोडून काढणाऱ्या लोकांपासून रक्षण करतो.
Where this applies
- When someone uses clever, learned-sounding talk but has no real sincerity behind it
- When you're mocked or belittled by people for your simple, sincere faith
- When a group ganges up to ridicule someone's devotion or good intentions
- When you need courage to stand firm against people who tear others down with words