Abhanga 4355
Caste-based judgment of work is circular and self-defeating, and pride in caste ultimately degrades the very people who cling to it.
The verse
तेथें बिबव्याचें काम । अधमासि तों अधम ॥१॥
तेथें चाकराचें काम । अधमासि तों अधम ॥ध्रु.॥
तेथें बटकीचें काम । अधमासि तों अधम ॥२॥
तेथें पैजारेचें काम । अधमासि तों अधम ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे जाती । जातीसाटीं खाती माती ॥४॥
Literal translation
Bibvyā-work — adhama-the-adhama. Chākara-work — adhama-the-adhama. Baṭakī-work — adhama-the-adhama. Paijāra-work — adhama-the-adhama. Tukā: jāti — jāti-sāṭīm-khātī-mātī.
What it means
THE canonical 5-verse anti-caste-occupation critique. There is the bibvyā's work — for the adhama, it's degrading. There the chākara's work — for the adhama, degrading. There the baṭakī's work — for the adhama, degrading. There the paijāra's work — for the adhama, degrading. Tukā says: caste — they eat mud for caste's sake. The refrain adhamāsi tōm adhama (to the adhama it is the adhama)is a deliberately-paradoxical-formulation suggesting that occupational-degradation-is-circular-within-caste-thinking.The closing line jāti-sāṭīm-khātī-mātī (they eat mud for the sake of caste) is a striking-condemnation: caste-pride-actually-degrades-its-claimants. Pair with 4275 (caste-democratization-saints-list), 4205 (births-of-any-caste-acceptable).
For someone today
Tukaram lists one lowly, caste-bound occupation after another, a servant's work, a maidservant's work, work tied to footwear, and says each time that to a person already treated as low, the work is treated as low too. He is showing how the whole system is circular, people are looked down on because of their work, and their work is looked down on because of who is made to do it. His closing line is a sharp condemnation: for the sake of caste pride, people end up eating dirt. In other words, caste pride does not lift anyone up, it actually drags people down.
मराठी: तुकाराम एकामागोमाग एक हलक्या समजल्या जाणाऱ्या जातीबद्ध कामांची यादी देतात, नोकराचं काम, दासीचं काम, पायताणाशी निगडित काम, आणि प्रत्येक वेळी सांगतात की ज्याला आधीच हलकं मानलं जातं, त्याचं कामही हलकं मानलं जातं. ते दाखवतात की ही संपूर्ण व्यवस्था कशी फिरत राहते, माणसाला त्याच्या कामामुळे तुच्छ मानलं जातं, आणि काम तुच्छ मानलं जातं कारण ते कोणाकडून केलं जातं. त्यांची शेवटची ओळ एक तीव्र टीका आहे, जातीच्या अभिमानासाठी माणसं शेवटी माती खातात. म्हणजेच, जातीचा अभिमान कोणालाही वर उचलत नाही, तो प्रत्यक्षात माणसांना खाली ओढतो.
Where this applies
- When you notice someone being judged by the kind of work they do rather than who they are
- When you catch yourself looking down on a job because of who traditionally does it
- When you see caste or status pride causing people to demean themselves or others
- When you want to question a system that keeps labeling certain people and their work as lesser