संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 63 of 4582

Abhanga 63

English: This abhang names a structure most people work backwards from. We try to fix the substances — change the relationship, change the city, change the body, change the comforts — and notice that the relief is temporary. The next set of substances delivers the same dissatisfaction. Tukaram's claim: the substances were never the issue. The state of the heart is what determines what substances do. चित्त समाधानें — contented heart — turns even poison to gold. The cure is not better substances; it is the underlying state that receives them. If you can't get the heart settled, no improvement in conditions will deliver lasting relief; if you can, even poison-grade conditions stop being load-bearing.

When the same situation feels intolerable today and fine tomorrow — and you have to ask whether the situation changed or your heart did

When you're trying to fix something outside (relationships, conditions, comforts) when the outside keeps changing without bringing the relief you expected

When you notice that the same gesture from someone — sandalwood or poison — lands differently on different days, and you have to find what changed inside you

The verse

चित्त समाधानें । तरी विष वाटे सोनें ॥१॥ बहु खोटा अतिशय । जाणां भले सांगों काय ॥ध्रु.॥ मनाच्या तळमळें । चंदनें ही अंग पोळे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे दुजा । उपचार पीडा पूजा ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: With the heart in samādhāna, even poison tastes like gold. Excess (in anything) is very harmful — wise ones, what is there to say? With the mind's agitation, even sandalwood burns the body. Tuka says: any other treatment (besides settling the heart) is worship-as-affliction.

मराठी: चित्त समाधानात असेल तर विषही सोन्यासारखं वाटतं. अतिशय बहुधा खोटा / हानिकारक — सुज्ञांनो, काय सांगू? मनाच्या तळमळीत चंदनही अंगाला पोळतं. तुकाराम म्हणतात — दुसरा उपचार पीडा-पूजा.

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
चित्त समाधानें	"(when) the heart (is) in samādhāna (contentment, settled-ness)"
तरी विष वाटे सोनें	"even poison tastes like gold"
बहु खोटा अतिशय	"excess (of anything) is very false / harmful"
जाणां भले सांगों काय	"wise ones, what shall I say?"
मनाच्या तळमळें	"with the mind's agitation"
चंदनें ही अंग पोळे	"even sandalwood burns the body"
दुजा उपचार पीडा पूजा	"any other treatment is worship-as-affliction"

What it means

A precise pair of inverse images: contented-heart turns poison into gold; agitated-heart turns sandalwood into burn. The teaching is that substances themselves are not load-bearing; what determines their effect is the state-of-the-heart that receives them. Sandalwood is iconic for coolness (used as paste on the forehead in hot weather); for it to burn the body is a vivid contradiction created entirely by the inner state. [T]

The closing — दुजा उपचार पीडा पूजा — any other treatment is worship-as-affliction — is the abhang's bigger claim: most of what is called treatment (medicines, comforts, distractions) is actually pīḍā-pūjā — worship-as-affliction — when the underlying heart-state is not settled. The cure is samādhāna; everything else is bandage. [T]

For someone today

English: This abhang names a structure most people work backwards from. We try to fix the substances — change the relationship, change the city, change the body, change the comforts — and notice that the relief is temporary. The next set of substances delivers the same dissatisfaction. Tukaram's claim: the substances were never the issue. The state of the heart is what determines what substances do. चित्त समाधानें — contented heart — turns even poison to gold. The cure is not better substances; it is the underlying state that receives them. If you can't get the heart settled, no improvement in conditions will deliver lasting relief; if you can, even poison-grade conditions stop being load-bearing.

मराठी: ही ओवी अशी रचना नाव सांगते जी बहुतेक लोक उलटी करतात. आपण substances दुरुस्त करायला बघतो — नातं बदला, शहर बदला, शरीर बदला, comforts बदला — आणि लक्षात येतं की दिलासा तात्पुरता आहे. पुढच्या substances देखील तशीच असमाधानता देतात. तुकारामांचा दावा: substances प्रश्न कधीच नव्हते. हृदयाची अवस्थाच ठरवते substances काय करतील. चित्त समाधानें — विषही सोनं. उपाय better substances नाही — त्यांना receiving करणारी underlying अवस्था. हृदय settled नसेल — परिस्थितीतली कुठलीही सुधारणा कायमचा दिलासा देत नाही; settled असेल — विष-grade परिस्थितीही load-bearing नसते.

Where this applies

When the same situation feels different today and tomorrow. The situation didn't change. Your heart did.
When you keep trying to fix the outside without lasting relief. Tukaram says: that's not where the lever is.
When sandalwood burns and poison tastes like gold. Both are about you, not about substances.