69A th Post Abhanga:-  Ignorant worships for getting wealth |अज्ञानाची भक्ति इच्छिती संपत्ती 
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अज्ञानाची भक्ति इच्छिती संपत्ती । तयाचियें चित्तिं बोध कैचा ॥ १॥

अज्ञानाची पूजा कामिक भावना । तयाचियें ध्यानां देव कैंचा ॥ २ ॥

अज्ञानाचें कर्म फळीं ठेवी ध्यान । निष्काम साधन तया कैंचें ॥ ३ ॥

अज्ञानाचें ज्ञान विषयांवरी ठेवी ध्यान । ब्रह्म सनतन तया कैंचें ॥ ४ ॥

तुका म्हणे जळो ऐशियाचें तोंड । अज्ञानाचें बंड वाढविती ॥ ५॥

Verbatim Meaning :-

Ignorant worships for getting wealth | How can such person get True knowledge || 1||

The worship[ by Ignorant is for fulfillment of desires| How can God be the subject of his meditation || 2 ||

Ignorant concentrates on the result ( fruit) of his work| How can he understand the worship without expectations || 3|| Object of Knowledge of Ignorant is Sense objects | How can he know true God ( Parabrahman) || 4 ||

Tuka says that let the fire destroy the face of such Ignorants| They only propagate knowledge full with ignorance || 5||

Background Information For understanding the meaning of this Abhanga :-

Recently Ganesh Chgaturthy was celebrated all over the country. Sri. Ganesha has two kinds of appearances. The Real one which is not manifested. And the other one of which all worship.

Ganesha is the Parabrahman , He is represented as ॐ which has five components . The first one is अ representing the waking state of the body, next is उ the dream state. Then comes म which is the state of dreamless sleep. Then comes अर्धमात्रा ( तुरिया where one is aware of the world as well as the parabrahman , next is the बिन्दु (.) representing for उन्मनि state of mind . Ganesha is beyond all this and the whole universe has originated from Him. That is why He is called “ गणनायक" the Leader of all the species. Naturally when we start any work, we pray to Him so that the task started will not have any obstructions.

Since He is not manifested , the scriptures have assumed that present appearance for Him. This has the origin in ॐ . The Ganash-atharvashirsha describes the details. Interpretation is best available in the famous spiritual book in Marathi written by Saint Jynaaneshvara Maharaj , mostly known as “ Jyaneshwari”.

To know this true God , one has to turn to spirituality. Knowing Him will free one from all the sufferings.

We know that everyone who turns to spirituality, the search for God , starts this search at least initially; in order to get a permanent relief from miseries faced in this world. The miseries faced are of many types. For example

1) Some fall ill, and suffer from some diseases.

2. We feel miserable when some dear one passes away.
3. When somethings do not happen as we desire, then we feel miserable.
4. When some one insults, scolds us we are miserable.
5. When we loose our wealth or it's part we fgeel miserable.
6. When we see the sufferings of others ( due to say some uncurable disease ) we feel not only miserable but also worried.
7. When we remember good old days , we lament that they are past now.
   In-fact one can go on adding to this list. It will be an unending list
   Some of the suffering are experienced by our body and mind, while some are experienced solely by our mind.

We get relief from some of these sufferings by appropriate measures such as medicines for our illness. Painkillers for body pain etc. However these reliefs are purely temporary in nature and one experiences sufferings again and again . This is the experience of each and everyone.

Thus there is cause and effect relationship for our sufferings. As long as the basic cause is not removed, there will be no end to one's sufferings.

However at least there is one approach , which guarantees a permanent relief form our sufferings. In this solution the basic cause for our sufferings is removed and naturally then; what one will experience is the Pure Bliss. This is the goal of our spiritual search for Liberation.

In this Abhanga , Tukaram Maharaj has brought-out the basic cause to our notice. This cause is called “ Ajyaana अज्ञान " or Ignorance. And since we know the cause , we can take action as well . This is what is expected . The abhanga describes the main aspects of our Ignorance. We must remember that the Ignorance arises as soon as we take birth. It is our attachment to the visual world and the objects there-in.

The ways or paths to remove this ignorance are many. These can be categorized into two types.

a) The path of Knowledge “ Dyaanmarga”

while the other path b) is “BhaktImarga “ the path of worship.

A famous Sanskrit saying is as given below.

"आकाशात्‌ पतितं तोयं , यथा गच्छति सागरं ; सर्वदेव नमस्कारान्‌ केशवं प्रति गच्छति ”

meaning is:- “ Like all waters ultimately go to the sea, any path leads to the same Parabrahmana”

Thus the worship must lead to” Atmajyanam” आत्मज्ञानम्‌ “ otherwise all the efforts are a waste of one's lifetime opportunity of having this Human birth. This is the declaration of Lord Krishna in the Srimad Bhagavadgeeta  .

Similarly in the famous Bhajagovindam Stotram, Shri. Adi Shankaracharya says the below given verse.

कुरुते गंगा सागरगमनम्‌ । व्रतपरिपालन अथवा दानम्‌ ।

ज्ञानविहिनं कर्ममनेन । मुक्तिर्नभवति जन्म शतेन ॥

the meaning of the above stanza is :- “Unless one has attained true knowledge , even for hundred Human births ; the Liberation is not possible by doing many pilgrimages, or by taking dip in the holy river Ganges or in the sea, or giving donations, or following difficult practices such as fasting ,etc.

Thus whether one follows the path of Worship, or the path of Knowledge ; it is most important that the Ignorance is fully removed.

However we must understand what this Ignorance is. The  Ignorance has its roots in the EGO. It is this “ I “ who assumes that he is the doer, and enjoyer of his actions. Fundamentally this EGO must vanish. But in order that this EGO vanishes, one has to put efforts.

The abhanga explains to us the various shades of Ignorance . So that one can decide to put his efforts in the right directions.

With this background now we can understand what Tukaram Maharaj says in the Abhanga.

Meaning of the Abhanga:-

The first stanza is

Ignorant worships for getting wealth | How can such person get True knowledge || 1||

Most of the Ignorant consider that the Wealth or Money is the only thing that will give them a  life full of pleasures and happyness. However the experience is otherwise. The Money causes one to become lazy. Many employ servants for very mundane tasks just because they have money. The body thus becomes inactive and this leads to body Diseases. With money ,one can satisfy his sence-organ needs and experience pleasure. But that pleasure  or happyness is short timed . In fact this causes generation of  the desire for more body pleasures and that leads to many births again, thus takes one away from Liberation.

Therefore we can say that the event of Birth is the source of sufferings. 

The second and third stanzas  say

“The worship by Ignorant is for fulfillment of desires| How can God be the subject of his meditation || 2 ||

 Ignorant concentrates on the result ( fruit) of his work| How can he understand the worship without expectations || 3||

Many think that if they worship the God , then He will bless them with whatever they desire. In fact in most of the rituals of worships one declares before starting the worship ;s that one is performing the worship for welfare, wealth, health etc . This is called संकल्पम and the Sankalpam most of the times is for Physical welfare of one's family members,etc “ Rarely the sankalpam is for the sake of Meeting with God.! God is like the mother. He naturally gives whatever his disciple wants. But he also tries to teach us  by giving the sufferings that it is better  to worship Him not  for satisfaction of ones desires. The real worship is done without any expectations and with immense love for God.

Also if we do our work with the expectations of the friuts ( Results) then this kind of work also takes us away from God.

The Mother of Pondecherry says in one saying “ Do every act and work without expectations of it's fruits, as a worship to the Divine. Then even the simple act of cleaning the floor with a broom takes one to the Divine”.

This aspect has been addressed in the above lines.

The fourth set of lines say

Object of Knowledge of Ignorant is Sense objects | How can he know true God ( Parabrahman)

 || 4 ||

This stanza describes how an Ignorant one livesin this world. His mind is always attached to the enjoyment sourced from various sense-objects in the world. The eyes want the visuals that give pleasure, Ears want sweet music and sweet words of Praise, Appreciation etc. Nose wants sweet pleasing smells.The skin wants the sensual pleasure arising from touch. The tongue wants eatables that give pleasure. The mind is the means through which all these pleasure are enjoyed.

The mind is  also a part of  Ego, which decides what one wants and what is not wanted. If the things do not happen as per the demands of the Ego, then one feels pain, etc. One is always afraid of Death.

If we consider an animal, it also lives for food, reproduction, sleep and is always afraid of Death.

Thus there is no difference between an Ignorant one and an animal.

Tukaram Maharaj says that if one lives like this then he can never get Liberation ( meet God).

The last stanza of the Abhanga says 

“Tuka says that let the fire destroy the face of such Ignorants| They only propagate knowledge full with ignorance || 5||

Here a warning is also indirectly given. Many a Hypocrites propagate spiritual practices just  for their own worldly benefits . One should rather remain away from such a person. The teacher who expects some money or kind;  from his disciples is definitely not to be considered as the liberated one. This is the reason for Tukaram maharaj to say here with contempt that such a person who deceives the masses (under the mask of spirituality) ; should suffer,( in this last stanza.)

Teaching of the Abhanga:-

Most of the sufferings have root in the assumption that the real bliss will come from external worldly objects because our mind thinks that these will give us pleasure and happyness.

Also if our mind demands that “ Things should happen only this way or Should not happen this way “

Then it is clear that we are under the control of Ignorance.

To get over this;  the best method of worshiping God is as given below:-

a) Understand that nothing is ours including our body. Trying to remember this point will reduce our attachment to worldly objects and pleasures derived from these objects.

b) Perform every action as the worship of God without any expectation .

c)Always remember always that He is the doer not us.

To continuously remember these will definitely need continuous effort. To put such effort is in our hands!

This I think is the teaching of this abhanga.

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