Abhanga 3801
Just as a king must punish wrongdoers and a farmer must weed the field, wrong done to sincere devotees must not go unchecked, because protecting the good is right policy, not sin.
The verse
अन्यायासी राजा जरि न करितां दंड । बहुचक ते लंड पीडिती जना ॥१॥
ने करी निगा कुणबी न काढितां तण । कैंचे येती कण हातासी ते ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे संतां करूं नये अनुचित । पाप नाहीं नीत विचारिता ॥३॥
Literal translation
Rāja-doesn't-danḍa-criminal — many-rascals-torment-people. Farmer-doesn't-weed — no-grain-comes-to-hand. Tukā: don't-do-anuchita-to-sants — no-pāpa-by-nīti.
What it means
A 3-verse parallel-analogy social-ethics text. If the king doesn't punish the wrongdoer, many rascals torment the people. If the farmer doesn't weed, no grain comes to hand. Don't do wrong to the sants — it is no sin, examined by policy (i.e., punishing those who wrong sants is the correct policy, like the king punishing criminals). The structure: two well-known agrarian/political principles, then the third applied case — protect the santas as you protect the kingdom-and-field.
For someone today
Tukaram makes his point with two everyday examples before the real one: if a king fails to punish wrongdoers, troublemakers multiply and ordinary people suffer; if a farmer fails to pull weeds, no grain ever reaches his hand. In the same way, he says, wrong done to saints and sincere devotees should not be allowed to pass unchecked — protecting them isn't harshness or sin, it's simply sound and right policy, the same as good governance or good farming. Neglect, left unchecked, always spreads harm.
मराठी: तुकाराम आपला मुद्दा दोन रोजच्या उदाहरणांनी आधी मांडतात, मग खरा मुद्दा सांगतात: राजाने अन्याय करणाऱ्यांना शिक्षा केली नाही, तर उपद्रवी लोक वाढतात आणि सामान्य लोकांना त्रास सहन करावा लागतो; शेतकऱ्याने तण काढले नाही, तर हातात धान्यच येत नाही. त्याचप्रमाणे, संतांवर आणि खऱ्या भक्तांवर होणारा अन्याय दुर्लक्षित राहू देऊ नये, असे ते म्हणतात — त्यांचे रक्षण करणे हे कठोरपणा किंवा पाप नाही, तर चांगल्या राज्यकारभारासारखेच किंवा चांगल्या शेतीसारखेच योग्य आणि सुयोग्य धोरण आहे. दुर्लक्ष केले की नुकसान आपोआप पसरत जाते.
Where this applies
- When you're a leader tempted to look the other way instead of correcting wrongdoing
- When neglecting a small problem now seems easier but will cause bigger harm later
- When sincere, good-hearted people are being mistreated and no one is stepping in
- When you hesitate to act because you worry that setting a firm boundary is somehow wrong or unkind