Abhanga 3910
The verse
शिखा सूत्र तुझा गुंतला जमान । तंववरि तूं जाण श्रुतिदास ॥१॥
त्याची तुज कांहीं चुकतां चि नीत । होसील पतित नरकवासी ॥ध्रु.॥
बहु जालासी चतुर शाहणा । शुद्ध आचरणा चुकों नको ॥२॥
शिखा सूत्र याचा तोडीं तूं संबंध । मग तुज बाध नाहींनाहीं ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे तरि वत्तूऩिन निराळा । उमटती कळा ब्रम्हींचिया ॥४॥
Literal translation
Śikhā-sūtra-bond-jamāna — till-then-śruti-dāsa. One-niti-faltered — patita-naraka-vāsī. Chatura-śāhaṇa — don't-slip-śuddha-ācharaṇa. Break-the-sambandha — no-bādha. Tukā: staying-nirāḷa — brahma's-kalā-arise.
What it means
★ A 4-verse rare anti-śikhā-sūtra ritual-bond text. As long as the śikhā (head-tuft) and sūtra (sacred-thread) are tied to you as a bond, know yourself as a slave-of-revealed-tradition. If you falter in even one of its rules, you become fallen, hell-bound. You may have become clever and wise — but don't slip from proper-conduct. Break the bond of this śikhā-sūtra — then there is no obstruction for you, none. By staying apart (from this bond), the brahma-arts arise in you. A striking critique of the brāhmaṇa-ritual-bond: while the śikhā-sūtra binds, one is slave to śruti — and one-falter makes one naraka-vāsī. Tukārām's solution: break the bond, and brahma-knowledge arises freely. Compare 3814 (no-varṇāvarṇa-by-Name), 2755 (śūdra-vamśī-released-from-dambha).
For someone today
Tukārām: the-śikhā-sūtra-bond-makes-you-a-slave-of-tradition-one-slip-naraka — break-the-bond-and-brahma-knowledge-arises.
Where this applies
- ★ Tukārām's anti-śikhā-sūtra-bond rare text
- Pair with 3814 (no-varṇāvarṇa-by-Name), 2755 (śūdra-vamśī)