Abhanga 4275
Holiness comes from devotion, not birth: saints have risen from every caste, trade, and religion, so no hereditary rule can decide who is worthy of God.
The verse
पवित्र तें कुळ पावन तो देश । जेथें हरिचे दास घेती जन्म ॥१॥
कर्मधर्म त्याचे जाला नारायण । त्याचेनी पावन तिन्ही लोक ॥ध्रु.॥
वर्णअभिमानें कोण जाले पावन । ऐसें द्या सांगून मजपाशीं ॥३॥
अंत्यजादि योनि तरल्या हरिभजनें । तयाचीं पुराणें भाट जालीं ॥३॥
वैश्य तुळाधार गोरा तो कुंभार । धागा हा चांभार रोहिदास ॥४॥
कबीर मोमीन लतिब मुसलमान । शेणा न्हावी जाण विष्णुदास ॥५॥
काणोपात्र खोदु पिंजारी तो दादु । भजनीं अभेदू हरिचे पायीं ॥६॥
चोखामेळा बंका जातीचा माहार । त्यासी सर्वेश्वर ऐक्य करी ॥७॥
नामयाची जनी कोण तिचा भाव । जेवी पंढरीराव तियेसवें ॥८॥
मैराळा जनक कोण कुळ त्याचें । महिमान तयाचें काय सांगों ॥९॥
यातायातीधर्म नाहीं विष्णुदासा । निर्णय हा ऐसा वेदशास्त्रीं ॥१०॥
तुका म्हणे तुम्ही विचारावे ग्रंथ । तारिले पतित नेणों किती ॥११॥
Literal translation
Pavitra-kuḷa-pāvana-dēśa-Hari-dāsas-janma. Karma-dharma-Nārāyaṇa — 3-lōkas-pāvana. Varṇa-abhimāna — no-one-pāvana. Antya-ja-yōnis-tarale-by-Hari-bhajana — purāṇas-as-bhāṭa. Tuḷādhāra/Gōrā-Kumbhāra/Rōhidāsa-Chāmbhāra. Kabīr-Mōmīn/Latīb-Musalmān/Śēṇā-Nhāvī. Kāṇōpātrā/Khōdu-pimjārī/Dādu. Chōkhāmēḷā-Bankā-Mahār — Sarvēśvara-ēkya. Nāmaya-Janī — Paṇḍharī-rāva-eats-with. Mairāḷā-Janaka. Yātāyātī-dharma-not-of-Viṣṇu-dāsa — niścaya-veda-śāstra. Tukā: consult-grantha — pātita-saved-countless.
What it means
FOUNDATIONAL 11-verse caste-democratization-and-low-caste-saints-list. Sacred is the kuḷa, pure the deśa where Hari-dāsas take birth. His karma-dharma became Nārāyaṇa — the three worlds became pure by him. Who has become pure by caste-pride — tell me. The low-born wombs crossed over by Hari-bhajana — the purāṇas became their praise-singers. Vaiśya — Tuḷādhāra; Gōrā the potter; the thread-spinner Rōhidāsa the leather-worker. Kabīr the Mōmīn; Latīb the Musalmān; know Śeṇā the barber as Viṣṇu-dāsa. Kāṇōpātrā, Khōdu the cotton-carder, Dādu — undifferentiated in bhajana at Hari's feet. Chōkhāmēḷā, Bankā — by caste Mahār — the all-Lord makes oneness with them. Nāmaya's Janī — what's her bhāva? — Paṇḍharī-rāva takes meals with her. Mairāḷā-Janaka — what kuḷa is his? — what greatness can I tell. Caste-hereditary-dharma is not of the Viṣṇu-dāsa — this is the conclusion in veda-śāstra. Tukā says: consult the granthas — countless are the fallen-ones saved. Companion-to-2810 which is the 12-figure saints-list. The 4-tier-explicit inclusion: (1) Vaiśya (Tuḷādhāra); (2) Kumbhāra (Gōrā), Chāmbhāra (Rōhidāsa), pimjārī (Khōdu); (3) Musalmān (Kabīr, Latīb), Nhāvī (Śēṇā); (4) Mahār (Chōkhāmēḷā, Bankā), woman-of-Mahār-household (Janī). The line yātāyātī-dharma not-of-Viṣṇu-dāsawithniścaya-by-veda-śāstra is the doctrinal-anchor. Pair with 2810 (12-figure saints-list), 4205 (births-of-any-caste-acceptable), 4265 (no-adhama-yāti-rule).
For someone today
Tukaram insists that holiness has nothing to do with the caste, family, or religion you were born into; it comes from devotion to God. He names saint after saint who came from backgrounds considered low or outside the fold: a grocer, a potter, a leather-worker, a Muslim weaver and a Muslim scholar, a barber, a cotton-carder, and Chokhamela and Banka, who were Mahars, along with Jani, a Mahar woman whom Vitthal himself sat and ate with. If caste pride truly made anyone holy, Tukaram asks, name a single person it actually purified, because scripture itself says hereditary caste rules simply do not apply to a true devotee.
मराठी: तुकाराम स्पष्टपणे सांगतात की पावित्र्याचा संबंध जन्माने मिळालेल्या जात, कुळ किंवा धर्माशी नसतो — ते फक्त हरिभक्तीतून येते. ते खालच्या मानल्या गेलेल्या किंवा परधर्मीय पार्श्वभूमीतील अनेक संतांची नावे घेतात: वैश्य तुळाधार, कुंभार गोरा, चांभार रोहिदास, मुसलमान कबीर आणि लतीब, न्हावी शेणा, पिंजारी खोदू, आणि महार असलेले चोखामेळा व बंका, तसेच महार घरातील जनाबाई — जिच्याबरोबर स्वतः पंढरीराव जेवायला बसत. जातीच्या अभिमानाने कोणी खरेच पावन झाला असेल तर त्याचे नाव सांगा, असे तुकाराम विचारतात, कारण वेदशास्त्रच सांगते की हरिभक्ताला जन्मजात जातिधर्म लागू होत नाही.
Where this applies
- When you or someone else is told their caste, religion, or social standing disqualifies them from a spiritual or moral life
- When you're tempted to judge someone's worth by their family name, job, or social status instead of their character
- When you need proof that ordinary people from every walk of life have become genuinely holy through devotion and effort
- When you feel excluded from a community because of who your parents were rather than who you are