संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 4152 of 4582

Abhanga 4152

Ghālūniyām madhyāvartī — dāṭuni upadeśa dētī — placing (themselves) in the middle — they forcibly give instruction.

Tukārām's anti-fake-guru — pōṭa-bharē, paid-stipend, no-walking-the-talk canonical

The verse

घालूनियां मध्यावर्ती । दाटुनि उपदेश देती ॥१॥ ऐसे पोटभरे संत । तयां कैंचा भगवंत ॥ध्रु.॥ रांडापोरांतें गोविती । वर्षासन ते लाविती ॥२॥ जसे बोलती निरोपणीं । तैसी न करिती करणी ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे तया । तमोगुणियाची क्रिया ॥४॥

Literal translation

Ghālūniyām madhyāvartī — dāṭuni upadeśa dētīplacing (themselves) in the middle — they forcibly give instruction. Aise pōṭabharē santa — tayām kaiñchā Bhagavantasuch stomach-filler sants — where is Bhagavanta for them. Rāṇḍāpōrāntē govitī — varṣāsana te lāvitīthey entangle with women-children — they fix yearly-stipend. Jase bōlatī niropaṇīm — taisī na karitī karaṇīas they speak in discourse — they do not do in action. Tukā mhaṇe tayā — tamōguṇiyāchī kriyāTukā says: this is the action of tamōguṇa.

What it means

A 4-verse anti-fake-guru polemic. Stomach-filler-sants force-themselves-into-the-middle; tangle-with-women-children; fix-annual-stipend; preach-but-don't-do; this-is-tamoguṇa-action. The varṣāsana reference points to the 17th-c. practice of land-grants and stipends to monastic-functionaries.

For someone today

Tukārām says: those-who-fix-a-salary-from-spirituality-and-don't-walk-their-talk are stomach-fillers; Bhagavanta is not with them.

Where this applies

Related verses