Abhanga 3923
Carrying every outward symbol of devotion while ringing the bell only for food is not devotion at all, only a trade, Tukaram says.
The verse
होउनी जंगम विभूती लाविती । शंख वाजविती घरोघरीं ॥१॥
शिवाचें निर्माल्य तीर्था न सेविती । घंटा वाजविती पोटासाठीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे त्यासी नाहीं शिवभक्ती । व्यापार करिती संसाराचा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Jangama-vibhūti — śankha-house-to-house. No-Śiva-nirmāḷya-tīrtha — bell-for-belly. Tukā: no-Śiva-bhakti — samsāra-vyāpāra.
What it means
Verse 6 of the 7-abhang anti-fake-renunciate cluster. Becoming a jangama, they put on sacred-ash; they blow the conch house-to-house. They don't actually use Śiva's offerings or sacred-water; they ring the bell only for the belly. They have no Śiva-bhakti — they do business with the world. Specific reference to the Jangama — wandering Śaiva-Lingāyat mendicants common in 17th-c. Deccan, known for vibhūti, conch, and door-to-door bell-ringing.
For someone today
Tukaram describes a wandering jangama mendicant who puts on sacred ash, blows a conch from door to door, and rings a bell — but never actually uses Shiva's own offerings or sacred water, and rings the bell only to collect food. All the equipment of devotion is present, yet Tukaram says there is no real devotion to Shiva in it at all, only a business of getting by in the world. The tools and rituals of religion mean nothing if the heart behind them is only after a living.
मराठी: तुकाराम एका भटक्या जंगम साधूचे वर्णन करतात जो भस्म लावतो, दारोदारी शंख वाजवतो आणि घंटा वाजवतो — पण शंकराचा खरा निर्माल्य किंवा तीर्थ कधीच घेत नाही, आणि घंटा केवळ अन्न मिळवण्यासाठी वाजवतो. भक्तीची सर्व साधने त्याच्याजवळ आहेत, तरीही तुकाराम म्हणतात की त्यात शंकराची खरी भक्ती अजिबात नाही, केवळ जगण्याचा व्यवहार आहे. धर्माची साधने आणि विधी निरर्थक ठरतात जर त्यामागचे मन केवळ उपजीविकेसाठी असेल.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's Jangama-type in 7-abhang cluster
- 17th-c. Lingāyat-Jangama documentary witness