Abhanga 4254
The verse
अंगीं घेऊनियां वारें दया देती । तया भक्ता हातीं चोट आहे ॥१॥
देव्हारा बैसोनि हालविती सुपें । ऐसीं पापी पापें लिंपताती ॥ध्रु.॥
एकीबेकीन्यायें होतसे प्रचित । तेणें लोक समस्त भुलताती ॥२॥
तयाचे स्वाधीन दैवतें असती । तरी कां मरती त्यांचीं पोरें ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे पाणी अंगारा जयाचा । भक्त कान्होबाचा तो ही नव्हे ॥४॥
Literal translation
Takes-vārā-gives-dayā — chōṭa-string-pull. Devhārā-sits-shakes-suppe — pāpis-lip-pāpa. Ēkī-bēkī-nyāya-fulfilment — fools-people. If-deities-controlled — why-children-die. Tukā: pāṇī-angārā-charms — not-Kānhōbā-bhakta.
What it means
★ A 4-verse 17th-century anti-occult-priest polemic. One takes the deity-possession-trance on his body, gives the mercy-blessing — but in his (bhakta's) hand is the string-puppet-pull. Sitting on the god-platform, they shake the winnowing-tray — thus these sinners smear sin (on others). By the rule of occasional-coincidence-fulfilment, all the people are fooled. If the deities are under his command — why then do his own children die? Tukā says: one whose (charms are mere) water and blessed-ash — he is not the bhakta of Kānhōbā. The decisive rebuttal: if the priest really commands the deities, why do his own children die? — a sharp empirical-test of charlatan-claims. Pair with 2962 (anti-fake-guru), 3049 (open-mantra-anti-occult), 2374 (anti-folk-deity-polemic).
For someone today
Tukārām: if-the-occult-priest-really-commands-the-deities, why-do-his-own-children-die? — he-uses-water-and-ash-charms, but-he-is-not-the-bhakta-of-Kānhōbā.
Where this applies
- ★ Tukārām's anti-occult-priest empirical-test canonical