Abhanga 54
English: This abhang names a structural error most modern self-help inverts. We are taught to claim — claim our power, claim our story, claim our worth. Tukaram's claim is exactly opposite: the I-claiming is what calls bhūtas to the back. Each my work, my idea, my home, my child, my time is a finger Time will use later. The cure is not affirming the I harder; it is recognizing what was never yours to claim.
The verse
आहे तें सकळ कृष्णा चि अर्पण । न कळतां मन दुजें भावी ॥१॥ म्हणउनी पाठी लागतील भूतें । येती गवसीत पांचजणें ॥ध्रु.॥ ज्याचे त्या वंचलें आठव न होतां । दंड या निमित्ताकारणें हा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे काळें चेंपियेला गळा । मी मी वेळोवेळा करीतसे ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Everything that is, is already an offering to Krishna; not knowing, the mind imagines a second claim. Because of that, the bhūtas chase from behind; the five (elements) come surrounding. What was whose (= Krishna's) has been cheated of, without remembering — and this very pretext is the punishment. Tuka says: Time has clutched my throat — saying I, I over and over.
मराठी: जे आहे ते सर्व कृष्णाला अर्पण; न कळून मन दुसरं भावी. म्हणूनच भूते पाठी लागतात; पाचजण घेरून येतात. ज्याचं त्याचं वंचलं — आठवण न होता; हाच निमित्त, हाच दंड. तुकाराम म्हणतात — काळाने गळा चेपला; मी-मी मी वेळोवेळा करत असतो.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आहे तें सकळ कृष्णा चि अर्पण | "everything that is, is offered to Krishna" |
| न कळतां मन दुजें भावी | "not knowing, the mind imagines a second (= some-other-claim)" |
| पाठी लागतील भूतें | "the bhūtas (the five elements / the demonic forces) chase from behind" |
| येती गवसीत पांचजणें | "the five (elements / kinds) come surrounding (us)" |
| ज्याचे त्या वंचलें आठव न होतां | "whose-it-was, that has been cheated, without remembering" |
| दंड या निमित्ताकारणें हा | "this very pretext is the (cause of) punishment" |
| काळें चेंपियेला गळा | "Time / Death has clutched the throat" |
| मी मी वेळोवेळा करीतसे | "saying I, I over and over" |
What it means
The closing image is among Tukaram's most physically-felt: काळें चेंपियेला गळा, मी मी वेळोवेळा करीतसे — Time has clutched my throat — (because) I keep saying I, I. The repetition मी मी — I, I — is the breath being choked. Each I-claim is a finger Time uses to tighten the grip. The verse implicates ego in mortality itself: it is not that Death-then-takes-the-Self; the I-claiming is what makes Death tightenable. [T]
The earlier verses give the structural argument: everything is already Krishna's; the mind, not knowing, imagines a second (मन दुजें भावी) — a separate claimant, a me that owns. This second-claim brings consequences (the pāñca-jana / five elemental forces chase, the bhūtas pursue). The whole abhang is a single structural diagnosis: the I-claim is the cause of the chase. [T]
For someone today
English: This abhang names a structural error most modern self-help inverts. We are taught to claim — claim our power, claim our story, claim our worth. Tukaram's claim is exactly opposite: the I-claiming is what calls bhūtas to the back. Each my work, my idea, my home, my child, my time is a finger Time will use later. The cure is not affirming the I harder; it is recognizing what was never yours to claim.
The deepest reading is in the closing: Time has clutched the throat, because I keep saying I, I. Mortality is felt at the throat — Time tightens; the breath constricts. The I-I repetition is what gives Time something to grip. The cure named in verse 1 — everything is already Krishna's — releases the throat-grip not by escaping mortality but by removing what mortality was using as handle.
मराठी: ही ओवी रचनात्मक चूक नाव सांगते जी आधुनिक self-help उलट करते. आम्हाला दावा करायला शिकवलं जातं — आपली शक्ती, आपली कथा, आपला लायकीचा दावा. तुकारामांचा दावा अगदी उलट: I-दावा हाच पाठीशी भूते बोलावतो. प्रत्येक माझं काम, माझी कल्पना, माझं घर, माझं मूल, माझा वेळ — ते एक बोट आहे जे Time नंतर वापरेल. उपाय I चं affirmation जोरात नाही; जे कधीच तुमचं नव्हतं ते ओळखणं.
खोलात्मक वाचन शेवटी: काळाने गळा चेपला, कारण मी I-I करतो. मरणशीलता गळ्यात जाणवते — Time घट्ट करतो; श्वास संकुचित. I-I पुनरावृत्ती Time ला घट्ट धरायला काहीतरी देते. उपाय ओवी १ मध्ये नावाने: सर्व आधीच कृष्णाचं — गळ्याचा घट्ट pakad सोडवतो — मरणशीलता टाळून नाही, Time जे handle म्हणून वापरत होतं ते काढून टाकून.
Where this applies
- When you find yourself claiming credit for what worked out. The claiming attracts the next failure.
- When my-this, my-that keeps coming out. Re-remember whose it actually was.
- When you sense Time tightening at your throat. Notice which I-I claim is the rope.