Abhanga 4158
The same divine life lives in every creature, so causing suffering to any living being is cruelty that carries real consequences.
The verse
जीवें जीव नेणे पापी सारिका चि । नळी दुजयाची कापूं बैसे ॥१॥
आत्मा नारायण सर्वां घटीं आहे । पशुमध्यें काय कळों नये ॥ध्रु.॥
देखत हा जीव हुंबरे वरडत । निष्ठाचे हात वाहाती कैसे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तया चांडाळासी नर्क । भोगिती अनेक महादुःखें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Jīve jīva nēṇē pāpī sārikā chi — naḷī dujayāchī kāpūm baise — the sinner does-not-know jīva-by-jīva — like the sārikā — sits to cut the other's throat. Ātmā Nārāyaṇa sarvām ghaṭīm āhe — paśu-madhye kāya kaḷōm naye — Ātmā-Nārāyaṇa is in every vessel — should it not be known (even) in animals. Dekhata hā jīva humbare varaḍata — niṣṭhurāche hāta vāhātī kaise — seeing this the jīva moans crying — how do the cruel hands move. Tukā mhaṇe tayā chāṇḍāḷāsī narka — bhōgitī aneka mahāduḥkhe — Tukā says: that cruel-soul (suffers) naraka — many great duḥkhas.
What it means
A 4-verse anti-animal-slaughter ahimsā text. The-killer-doesn't-recognize-jīva-by-jīva; Ātmā-Nārāyaṇa-is-in-every-vessel (ghaṭa) — should-show-up-in-animals-too; the-jīva-moans-and-cries — how-can-cruel-hands-keep-moving; such-chāṇḍāḷa-goes-to-naraka. Compare Tukā's 2657 bhakti = bowing-to-jīva-jantu-bhūta.
For someone today
Tukaram condemns cruelty toward animals in stark terms: someone who can casually cut another creature's throat has failed to recognize that the same divine life, the same Narayana, dwells inside every living being, not only humans. He asks how anyone can watch a creature moan and cry out in pain and still let their hands do such a cruel act. He warns that whoever commits this kind of cruelty will suffer greatly for it, because harming any living being is really harming the sacred presence within it.
मराठी: तुकाराम प्राण्यांवरील क्रूरतेचा तीव्र शब्दांत निषेध करतात: दुसऱ्याचा गळा सहज कापणाऱ्याला हे कळत नाही की प्रत्येक जिवात, फक्त माणसातच नव्हे, तोच नारायण वास करतो. जीव विव्हळत असताना, वेदनेने ओरडत असताना, हात इतके निष्ठुर कसे होऊ शकतात असा प्रश्न ते विचारतात. अशी क्रूरता करणाऱ्याला मोठे दुःख भोगावे लागते, कारण कोणत्याही जिवाला दुखवणे म्हणजे त्याच्यातील पवित्र अस्तित्वालाच दुखवणे आहे, असा इशारा ते देतात.
Where this applies
- When you're deciding how to treat animals or other creatures who cannot speak for themselves
- When you witness cruelty and wonder how someone could ignore another being's suffering
- When you want a reason to choose compassion and non-violence in daily choices, including what you eat
- When you need to recognize the same life or spirit in every living being, not just the people you know