Abhanga 4343
Even a patient devotee reaches a limit when what is sacred to him is mocked, and defending it fiercely is sometimes the honest response.
The verse
म्हणे विठ्ठल पाषाण । त्याच्या तोंडावरि वाहाण॥१॥
नको नको दर्शन त्याचें । गलितकुष्ट भरो वाचे ॥ध्रु.॥
शाळिग्रामासि म्हणे धोंडा । कोड पडो त्याच्या तोंडा ॥२॥
भावी सद्गु मनुष्य । त्याचें खंडो का आयुष्य ॥३॥
हरिभक्ताच्या करी चेष्टा । त्याचे तोंडीं पडो विष्ठा ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे किती ऐकों । कोठवरी मर्यादा राखों ॥५॥
Literal translation
Mhaṇe viṭhṭhala pāṣāṇa — tyāchyā tōṇḍāvari vāhāṇa: whoever says Viṭṭhal is stone — sandal on his face. Nako nako darśana tyāche — galitakuṣṭha bharō vāche: no, no darśana of him — galita-kuṣṭha fill his speech. Śāḷigrāmāsi mhaṇe dhōṇḍā — kōḍa paḍo tyāchyā tōṇḍā: who says Śāḷigrāma is pebble — kōḍa on his face. Bhāvī sadgurū manuṣya — tyāche khaṇḍo kā āyuṣya: who insults bhāvika-sadguru-man — let his āyuṣya be cut. Hari-bhaktāchyā karī cheṣṭā — tyāche tōṇḍīm paḍo viṣṭhā: who mocks Hari-bhakta — let viṣṭhā fall in his mouth. Tukā mhaṇe kitī aikōm — kōṭhavarī maryādā rākhōm: Tukā says: how much I listen — how far should I keep maryādā?
What it means
A harsh 5-verse curse-polemic — Tukārām breaks his maryādā (restraint) to defend Viṭṭhal, Śāḷigrāma, sadguru, and Hari-bhakta against blasphemers; uses bold curses (galitakuṣṭha, kōḍa, viṣṭhā in mouth, āyuṣya cut, sandal on face). Rare in canon for its open-curse-language.
For someone today
Tukārām declares: there is a point where maryādā breaks; insulting the Lord, śāḷagrāma, sadguru, or Hari-bhakta brings its own karmic-curse.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's harsh-curse polemic against Hari-blasphemers
- Rare-evidence of Tukārām's defenses against external-mockery of Vārkarī tradition