Abhanga 4319
Tukaram argues, using the cow-versus-donkey paradox, that a teacher should share the student's own caste, a seventeenth-century social rule best read alongside his more inclusive statements elsewhere.
The verse
डिवेना डसेना बुझेना निर्मळ । परि अमंगळ स्वीकारीना ॥१॥
परंतु गर्धब अपवित्र जाणा । पर्वकाळीं दाना देऊं नये ॥ध्रु.॥
डिवी लात्री बुजे बहु नेदी दुध । मुखीं नाहीं शुद्ध विष्ठा खाय ॥२॥
परंतु ते गाय पवित्र हो जाणा । पर्वकाळीं दाना देऊजेते ॥३॥
ब्राम्हणें ब्राम्हणा सद्गू करावा । परि न करावा शूद्रादिक ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे देवें सांगितली सोय । म्हणोनि त्याचे पाय धरिले जीवें ॥५॥
Literal translation
V1: ḍivēnā ḍasēnā bujhēnā nirmaḷa, parī amangaḷa svīkārīnā — doesn't bite/suck/seek-clean, yet doesn't accept impure. V2 (dhrva): parantu gardhaba apavitra — but (the) donkey (is) apavitra; don't give-at-parvakāḷa-dāna. V3: cow bites-and-kicks, gives-little-milk, mouth-not-pure, eats-dung. V4: parantu te gāya pavitra — but (the) cow (is) pavitra — give-at-parvakāḷa-dāna. V5: brāhmaṇe brāhmaṇā sadguru karāvā — parī na karāvā śūdrādika. V6 (close): Tukā mhaṇe deve sāngitalī sōya — mhaṇōnī tyāñce pāya dharile jīve.
What it means
A 6-verse text using cow-donkey contrast to argue sadguru must come from one's own varṇa. Bound-to-17th-c social-framework.
Must-be-contextualized historically — Tukārām's other texts (2755 śūdra-vamśī autobiographical, 2973 inner-quality-over-jāti, 3040 anti-imitation-with-nuance) show a more-nuanced overall stance. This verse cites animal-purity-paradox as analogy.
For someone today
Tukaram points to a paradox familiar from daily life: a donkey never bites or fusses and seems gentle enough, yet tradition still treats it as impure and unfit for sacred offerings. A cow, on the other hand, can kick, give little milk, and even eat filth, yet tradition still honors her as pure and worthy of offerings on holy days. From this Tukaram draws a rule from his own seventeenth century world, that a Brahmin should take a Brahmin as his teacher rather than someone of lower caste, and he presents it as guidance he received from God and held to with his whole heart. This particular teaching reflects the strict caste framework of Tukaram's time, and his other verses, where he speaks of his own humble birth and of judging people by their inner quality rather than their caste, show a more complicated picture, so it is worth reading this passage as one voice within a larger and sometimes conflicting body of work.
मराठी: तुकाराम महाराज रोजच्या जीवनातील एक विरोधाभास मांडतात, गाढव कधी चावत नाही किंवा त्रास देत नाही आणि दिसायला सौम्य वाटते, तरीही परंपरा त्याला अपवित्र मानते आणि पवित्र दानासाठी अयोग्य समजते. दुसरीकडे गाय लाथ मारते, कमी दूध देते, अगदी घाणही खाते, तरीही परंपरा तिला पवित्र मानते आणि पर्वकाळी दानयोग्य समजते. यातून तुकाराम त्यांच्या सतराव्या शतकातील समाजाचा एक नियम मांडतात, की ब्राह्मणाने ब्राह्मणालाच गुरू करावे, खालच्या जातीच्या माणसाला नाही, आणि हे देवाने सांगितलेले मार्गदर्शन आहे असे सांगून ते मनापासून स्वीकारल्याचे नमूद करतात. ही विशिष्ट शिकवण तुकारामांच्या काळातील कठोर जातिव्यवस्थेचे प्रतिबिंब आहे, आणि त्यांच्याच इतर रचना, जिथे ते स्वतःच्या साध्या कुळाबद्दल बोलतात आणि जातीपेक्षा माणसाच्या अंतरंगाला महत्त्व देतात, त्या पाहता हे चित्र अधिक गुंतागुंतीचे दिसते, त्यामुळे हा भाग त्यांच्या मोठ्या आणि कधी कधी परस्परविरोधी रचनांमधील एक आवाज म्हणून वाचणे योग्य ठरते.
Where this applies
- Cow-donkey image for sadguru-eligibility
- 17th-c varṇa-restriction
- Read with 2755/2973/3040 for the full picture