Abhanga 4135
No-niyama-indriya — mukha-Rāma-pointless.
The verse
इंद्रियांसी नेम नाहीं । मुखीं राम म्हणोनि काई ॥१॥
जेविं मासीसंगें अन्न । सुख नेदी तें भोजन ॥ध्रु.॥
कीर्तन करावें । तैसें करूनी दावावें ॥२॥
हें तों अंगीं नाहीं चिन्हें । गाइलें वेश्येच्या ढव्यानें ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे नका रागा । संत शिवूं नेदिती अंगा ॥४॥
Literal translation
No-niyama-indriya — mukha-Rāma-pointless. Fly-in-food — no-sukha. Kīrtana-done-and-shown. No-chinha-in-anga — sung-by-vēśyā-vainglory. Tukā: don't-be-angry — santas-don't-let-touch-anga.
What it means
★ A 4-verse anti-empty-kīrtana text. If there's no control of the senses, what good is saying Rāma by mouth? Like food with a fly in it — that meal gives no joy. Kīrtana must be done and shown in the body. If no sign is on the body, it has been sung in courtesan-vainglory. Don't get angry — but the santas don't let such a one touch them. The diagnosis: kīrtana-without-bodily-sign = vēśyā's-vainglory. Sharp anti-performance-bhakti polemic.
For someone today
Tukārām: kīrtana-must-be-shown-in-the-body-not-just-mouth; santas-don't-let-empty-kīrtanakāra-touch-them.
Where this applies
- ★ Tukārām's anti-empty-kīrtana — must-be-shown-in-body canonical