Abhanga 47
When hope has been let go, fear of death goes with it. The body can fall anywhere, climb the gallows even. Honor-dishonor and joy-sorrow are no longer load-bearing.
The verse
आम्ही जरी आस । जालों टाकोनि उदास ॥१॥ आतां कोण भय धरी । पुढें मरणाचें हरी ॥ध्रु.॥ भलते ठायीं पडों । देह तुरंगीं हा चढो ॥२॥ तुमचें तुम्हांपासीं । आम्ही आहों जैसीं तैसीं ॥३॥ गेले मानामान । सुखदुःखाचें खंडन ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे चित्तीं । नाहीं वागवीत खंती ॥५॥
Literal translation
English: Even hope we have abandoned and become indifferent. What fear holds us now of the death ahead? Let the body fall in any place; let it climb the gallows. What is yours stays with you; we are as we are. Honor-and-dishonor are gone; joy-and-sorrow have been cancelled. Tuka says: we do not carry sorrow in mind.
मराठी: आशासुद्धा सोडून आम्ही उदासीन झालो. आता पुढच्या मृत्यूचं काय भय? देह कुठे पडो; तुरंगावर चढो. तुमचं तुमच्याजवळ; आम्ही जसे तसे आहोत. मानमान गेले; सुखदुःखाचं खंडन झालं. तुकाराम म्हणतात — चित्तात खंती नाही.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आम्ही जरी आस जालों टाकोनि उदास | "even hope, having abandoned, we have become indifferent" |
| आतां कोण भय धरी पुढें मरणाचें | "now what fear holds us, of death ahead?" |
| भलते ठायीं पडों | "let (the body) fall in any place" |
| देह तुरंगीं हा चढो | "let it climb the gallows" (तुरंग = gallows / tied-pole; literal Marathi has both senses) |
| तुमचें तुम्हांपासीं | "what is yours stays with you" |
| आम्ही आहों जैसीं तैसीं | "we are as we are" |
| गेले मानामान | "honor-and-dishonor are gone" |
| सुखदुःखाचें खंडन | "joy-and-sorrow's cancellation" (खंडन = cutting-off, refutation, cancellation) |
| चित्तीं नाहीं वागवीत खंती | "we do not carry sorrow in mind" |
What it means
The abhang names a post-arrival equanimity with great precision. आस जालों टाकोनि उदास — we abandoned even hope and became indifferent — is the structural premise. Once hope is let go, the fear of death goes with it (verse 2). The body can fall anywhere, can be hanged: the body's circumstance is no longer load-bearing. The closing two verses are the diagnostic state: गेले मानामान — honor-and-dishonor are gone; सुखदुःखाचें खंडन — joy-and-sorrow's cancellation. And finally: चित्तीं नाहीं वागवीत खंती — we do not carry sorrow in mind. [T]
For someone today
English: This abhang names a state that is easy to mistake for depression. The categories that used to organize life — honor and dishonor, joy and sorrow — have stopped being load-bearing. From the outside, this can look like flatness. From the inside, Tukaram says, it is the equanimity that arrives once hope has been let go. The mark is in the body: there is no खंती (sorrow, regret, weight) being carried. If the dimming of the categories comes with sorrow, it is something else; if it comes with the absence of sorrow, it is what Tukaram is naming.
मराठी: ही ओवी अशा अवस्थेचं नाव सांगते जिला depression म्हणून सहज चूक करता येतं. आधी जीवन रचणाऱ्या categories — मान-अपमान, सुख-दुःख — load-bearing राहिल्या नाहीत. बाहेरून हे flatness दिसू शकतं. आतून तुकाराम म्हणतात — हीच ती equanimity जी आशा सोडल्यानंतर येते. खूण शरीरात आहे: कोणतं खंती वाहिलं जात नाही. categories मंदावल्या आणि सोबत दुःख येत असेल — दुसरं काहीतरी आहे; दुःखाच्या अनुपस्थितीसह येत असेल — हेच तुकाराम सांगतायत.
Where this applies
- When you stopped protecting your life in some specific sense. The fearlessness is real. Trust it.
- When honor and dishonor stopped registering. गेले मानामान. Bhakti's post-arrival.
- When good day / bad day feel less distinct. Diagnostic: is there खंती (sorrow-being-carried)? If no, it is the cancellation, not depression.