Abhanga 4253
Wearing the outward look of a saint while secretly serving only your own family is a shameless performance, no different from a trained animal mimicking human ways.
The verse
भोंदावया मीस घेऊनि संतांचें । करी कुटुंबाचें दास्य सदा ॥१॥
मनुष्याचे परी बोले रावा करी । रंजवी नरनारी जगामध्यें ॥ध्रु.॥
तिमयाचा बैल करी सिकविलें । चित्रींचें बाहुलें गोष्टी सांगे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे देवा जळो हे महंती । लाज नाहीं चित्ति निसुगातें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Takes-santas-disguise-to-fool — does-family-dāsya. Parrot-speaks-like-human — entertains-nara-nārī. Trained-bull / picture-doll — speaks-stories. Tukā: burn-this-mahanti — niṣuga-no-shame.
What it means
A 3-verse anti-fake-mahanti polemic. To fool, he takes the disguise of the santas — but always does the service of his own family. Like a parrot speaks like a human — entertains men-and-women in the world. Like a trained-tilling-bull, or a painted picture-doll telling stories. Tukā says: Deva — let this mahanti (pretense-of-greatness) be burnt; there's no shame in the brazen heart. 3 trained-figure analogies for fake-sants: (1) parrot-mimics-human-speech; (2) tilling-bull-does-trained-movements; (3) painted-doll-tells-stories. All three are trained-imitation without-real-being. Pair with 4254 (anti-occult-priest), 4239 (anti-ritual-merit-sale), 2962 (anti-fake-guru).
For someone today
Tukaram calls out people who dress themselves up as saints just to fool others, while underneath they are still working entirely for their own household's gain. He compares them to a trained parrot that repeats human speech to entertain a crowd, or a tilling bull that has simply learned its motions, or a painted doll that seems to tell stories but has no life of its own. None of these performers actually believe or feel what they display, they just imitate the outward signs. Tukaram says this kind of pretend greatness deserves to be burned away, because a heart that has learned to fake devotion without any shame is a serious problem.
मराठी: तुकाराम अशा लोकांना उघडं पाडतात जे संत असल्याचा आव आणतात, पण आतून मात्र फक्त स्वतःच्या कुटुंबासाठी राबत असतात. ते त्यांची तुलना शिकवलेल्या पोपटाशी करतात, जो माणसासारखं बोलून लोकांचं मनोरंजन करतो, किंवा नांगराच्या शिकवलेल्या बैलाशी, किंवा गोष्टी सांगणाऱ्या चित्रातल्या बाहुलीशी करतात. हे सगळे फक्त बाह्य हावभाव नक्कल करतात, आतून खरा भाव किंवा श्रद्धा त्यांच्याकडे नसते. तुकाराम म्हणतात, अशी खोटी मोठेपणाची झूल जळून जावी, कारण लाजलज्जा नसताना भक्तीचं सोंग वठवणारं मन ही खरोखर मोठी समस्या आहे.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's anti-fake-mahanti — burn-this-pretense canonical