Abhanga 3870
Tukaram describes total renunciation, treating praise as worthless and seeking solitude, as the outer edge of complete devotion, not an everyday rule.
The verse
झाडा वरपोनि खाऊनियां पाला । आठवी विठ्ठला वेळोवेळां ॥१॥
वल्कलें नेसुनि ठुंगा गुंडाळुनी । सांडी देहभान जवळुनी ॥ध्रु.॥
लोकमान वमनासमान मानणें । एकांतीं राहणें विठोसाटीं ॥२॥
सहसा करूं नये प्रपंचीं सौजन्य । सेवावें अरण्य एकांतवास ॥३॥
ऐसा हा निर्धार करी जो मनाचा । तुका म्हणे त्याचा पांग फिटे ॥४॥
Literal translation
Climb-tree-eat-pāla — remember-Viṭṭhal. Bark-cloth-loincloth — cast-deha-bhāna. Lōka-māna-equal-to-vomit — ēkānta-for-Viṭhō. Don't-do-prapancha-saujanya — serve-araṇya-ēkānta-vāsa. Tukā: such-mind-nirdhāra — pānga-falls-away.
What it means
A 4-verse extreme-renunciate prescription. Climb the tree, eat its leaves — remember Viṭṭhal time and again. Wear bark-cloth, tie a loincloth, cast aside body-consciousness. Treat people's respect as equivalent to vomit; stay alone for Viṭhō. Never do worldly-courtesy in the household — serve the forest, the solitary-life. One who makes such a resolve in his mind — his sorrows fall away. Tukārām's most extreme forest-renunciation prescription — striking because Tukārām himself was largely a householder-bhakta (cf. 2944-2945 simple-life biographical). This may be a counsel for a particular interlocutor, or the highest-tier call for those drawn to vairāgya.
For someone today
In this abhang Tukaram pictures the most extreme form of devotion he describes anywhere: climbing trees to eat leaves, wearing nothing but bark and a loincloth, and letting go of every attachment to the body, all so remembrance of Vitthal can continue without interruption. A true renunciate, he says, treats the world's praise and honor as no more valuable than vomit, chooses solitude over social courtesy, and gives himself entirely to the forest and to God. This is not a rule meant for everyone — Tukaram himself lived mostly as a householder — but it names the outer edge of what total surrender can look like for someone whose heart is pulled toward complete detachment. Hold that resolve firmly, he says, and your inner turmoil finally falls away.
मराठी: या अभंगात तुकाराम भक्तीचे सर्वात टोकाचे रूप वर्णन करतात: झाडावर चढून पाला खाणे, वल्कले व लंगोटी नेसणे, आणि विठ्ठलाचे अखंड स्मरण राहावे म्हणून देहभान पूर्णपणे सोडून देणे. ते म्हणतात की खरा वैरागी लोकांचा मानसन्मान वमनासमान मानतो, एकांतात राहणे पसंत करतो आणि संपूर्णपणे अरण्यवासाला व ईश्वराला वाहून घेतो. हा नियम सर्वांसाठी नाही — तुकाराम स्वतः बहुतांशी गृहस्थाश्रमी जीवन जगले — पण ज्यांचे मन संपूर्ण वैराग्याकडे ओढले जाते त्यांच्यासाठी हे समर्पणाचे टोकाचे रूप दाखवते. असा दृढ निर्धार मनात धरला तर, तुकाराम म्हणतात, त्याचे पांग (दुःख) दूर होते.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's extreme-renunciate prescription
- lōka-māna-equal-to-vomit drastic image
- Contrast with 2944-2945 (Tukārām's-own simple-householder life)