Abhanga 4369
The verse
जालासि पंडित पुराण सांगसी । परि तूं नेणसी मीं हें कोण ॥१॥
गाढवभरी पोथ्या उलथिशी पानें । परि गुरुगम्यखुणे नेणशी बापा ॥२॥
तुका कुणबियाचा नेणे शास्त्रमत । एक पंढरीनाथ विसंबेना ॥३॥
Literal translation
You-became-paṇḍita-tell-purāṇa — don't-know-mī-hē-kōṇa. Donkey-load-pōthyās — turn-pages — no-guru-gamya-khūṇa. Tukā-kuṇabīyāchā — doesn't-know-śāstra-mata — only-Paṇḍharī-nātha-doesn't-forget.
What it means
★★ MAJOR canonical 3-verse anti-paṇḍita + autobiographical text. You've become a paṇḍita; you tell purāṇa — but you don't know who this 'I' is. With a donkey-load of books, you turn the pages — but you don't know the secret-mark known only to the guru, father. Tukā the farmer's (son) doesn't know śāstra-mata — but the one Paṇḍharī-nātha doesn't forget him. The autobiographical-line Tukā kuṇabīyāchā (Tukā, of the farmer-caste) is one of Tukārām's most-direct caste-self-claims — placing himself in the kuṇabī (farming-caste, agricultural-Śūdra) category. The structure: (1) paṇḍita-knows-purāṇa-but-not-self; (2) donkey-load-of-books = no-guru-mark; (3) Tukā-kuṇabī-doesn't-know-śāstra-but-Lord-doesn't-forget-him. The closing Paṇḍharī-nātha-visambēnā (the one Paṇḍharī-nātha doesn't forget) is the bhakti-conclusion: the knowing-the-Self the paṇḍita lacks is replaced by being-known-by-the-Lord. Pair with 2755 (śūdra-vamśī autobiographical), 4275 (caste-democratization saints-list), 4356 (brāhmaṇa-doesn't-know-own-warma).
For someone today
Tukārām: you-may-be-a-pundit-with-a-donkey-load-of-books — but-if-you-don't-know-the-secret-mark, you-don't-know-yourself; Tukā-the-farmer-doesn't-know-śāstra-but-the-Lord-doesn't-forget-him.
Where this applies
- ★★ Tukārām's MAJOR autobiographical-anti-paṇḍita + Tukā-kuṇabī-caste-claim canonical