Abhanga 4013
Turning sacred teaching into a paid transaction corrupts both the one who charges and the one who pays, because what should be given freely loses its meaning when money enters it.
The verse
त्या हरिदासांची भेटी घेतां । नकाऩ उभयतासी जातां ॥१॥
माते परीस थोरी कथा । भाड घेतां न लाजे ॥ध्रु.॥
देतां घेतां नरकवासी । उभयतांसी रवरव ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे नरकगांवा । जाती हांवा धरोनि ॥३॥
Literal translation
Don't-meet-such-hari-dāsas — both-go-down. Kathā-greater-than-mother — they-take-bhāḍa-without-shame. Both-naraka-vāsī — ravarava. Tukā: with-eagerness-naraka-gāva.
What it means
A 3-verse anti-monetized-kīrtana text. Don't meet such (corrupt) hari-dāsas — both of you fall. The kathā (religious-discourse) is greater than even one's mother; yet they take a beggar's-fee without shame. Both givers and takers become hell-bound — into ravarava (a hell). They go to the hell-village with eagerness. The doctrine: both kīrtanakāra-who-charges and listener-who-pays go to hell — companion to 3074 (canonical anti-monetized-kīrtana 4-rule code).
For someone today
Tukaram warns people to steer clear of teachers who turn sacred storytelling into a paid transaction. He says religious discourse is something more precious than even a mother's love, yet these people collect a fee for it without any shame. His verdict is severe, both the one who charges and the one who pays fall into the same ruin, walking eagerly into their own downfall as if they cannot wait to get there. The point is not about money itself but about what it does when it slips into something that should stay sacred and freely given.
मराठी: तुकाराम लोकांना पवित्र कथा-कीर्तनाला पैशाचा व्यवहार बनवणाऱ्या शिक्षकांपासून दूर राहायला सांगतात. ते म्हणतात की धार्मिक कथा आईच्या प्रेमापेक्षाही मौल्यवान आहे, तरीही असे लोक त्यासाठी लाज न बाळगता फी घेतात. त्यांचा निवाडा कठोर आहे, फी घेणारा आणि देणारा दोघेही एकाच अधःपतनात जातात, जणू स्वतःच्या विनाशाकडे आतुरतेने धावत जातात. मुद्दा पैशाचा नाही, तर पैसा जेव्हा एखाद्या पवित्र आणि मुक्तपणे दिल्या जाणाऱ्या गोष्टीत घुसतो तेव्हा तो काय करतो याचा आहे.
Where this applies
- When you see spiritual teaching or wisdom turned into a paid product and wonder if something sacred has been lost
- When you are tempted to charge for something that was meant to be shared freely out of love
- When you are choosing a teacher or guide and want to notice whether money has quietly become the point
- When you need language for why commercializing something meaningful can corrode both sides of the exchange