Abhanga 299
What looks impossible becomes possible through sustained, deliberate practice, and practice alone is the cause of that change.
The verse
साधूनी बचनाग खाती तोळा तोळा । आणिकातें डोळां न पाहवे ॥१॥ साधूनी भुजंग धरितील हातीं । आणिकें कापती देखोनियां ॥२॥ असाध्य तें साध्य करितां सायास । कारण अभ्यास तुका म्हणे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Practiced, (they) eat bachanāg — tōḷā-tōḷā; others cannot bear to look at it. Practiced, (they) hold the bhujanga in hand; others tremble at the sight. Tuka says: the asādhya — making it sādhya by sāyāsa — the cause is abhyāsa.
मराठी: साधूनी बचनाग खाती तोळा तोळा — आणिकातें डोळां न पाहवे. साधूनी भुजंग धरितील हातीं — आणिकें कापती देखोनियां. असाध्य तें साध्य करितां सायास — कारण अभ्यास तुकाराम म्हणतात.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| साधूनी बचनाग खाती तोळा तोळा | "practiced, (they) eatbachanāg—tōḷā-tōḷā (measure-by-measure)" |
| आणिकातें डोळां न पाहवे | "others — cannot bear tolookat it" |
| साधूनी भुजंग धरितील हातीं | "practiced, (they) hold thebhujangain hand" |
| आणिकें कापती देखोनियां | "others —trembleat the sight" |
| असाध्य तें साध्य करितां सायास | "theasādhya— making itsādhyabysāyāsa(effort)" |
| कारण अभ्यास तुका म्हणे | "thekāraṇa(cause) isabhyāsa(practice) — Tuka says" |
What it means
A short practice-makes-impossible-possible abhang. Three claims:
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साधूनी बचनाग खाती तोळा तोळा — आणिकातें डोळां न पाहवे — practiced, eat bachanāg tola-tola; others cannot even look. The bachanāg-eaters image. Some snake-charmers and sādhus practice eating arsenic in increasing-doses until they can eat substantial amounts without harm. Others cannot even bear to look at the substance. Practice transforms toxicity into food.
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साधूनी भुजंग धरितील हातीं — आणिकें कापती देखोनियां — practiced, hold the cobra in hand; others tremble at sight. Snake-charmers hold bhujanga (cobras) by daily-practice. Others tremble at the sight of the cobra. Practice transforms threat into companion.
-
असाध्य तें साध्य करितां सायास — कारण अभ्यास — the asādhya — made sādhya by sāyāsa — cause is abhyāsa. The general-rule. Asādhya (impossible) → sādhya (possible) by sāyāsa (effort). The kāraṇa (cause) is abhyāsa (practice). The transformation-rule is abhyāsa.
[T]
For someone today
Through practice, some people can eat small amounts of poison that others can't even bear to look at, and hold cobras in their hands while everyone else trembles at the sight. Tukaram draws the larger lesson from this: whatever seems impossible becomes possible through sustained, deliberate effort, and practice alone is the reason for that change — not some special gift or luck. Just because something looks impossible to you, or terrifies everyone else, doesn't mean it's actually beyond you; their fear and inability is simply a sign they haven't done the work, not a boundary on what's achievable. So take up whatever seems impossible in your own life the same way — build it up steadily, a little more each time, and trust that practice is what will get you there.
मराठी: सरावाने काही लोक इतकं विष थोड्या-थोड्या मात्रेत खाऊ शकतात की इतरांना ते बघणंही सहन होत नाही, आणि ते नाग हातात धरतात जिथे बाकीचे बघूनच थरथर कापतात. तुकाराम यातून मोठा धडा देतात — जे अशक्य वाटतं ते सातत्यपूर्ण आणि जाणीवपूर्वक सरावाने शक्य होतं, आणि या बदलाचं कारण केवळ सराव असतो — कोणतीही खास देणगी किंवा नशीब नाही. एखादी गोष्ट तुम्हाला अशक्य वाटते किंवा इतरांना घाबरवते म्हणून ती तुमच्या आवाक्याबाहेर आहे असं नाही — त्यांची भीती आणि असमर्थता हे फक्त हे दाखवतं की त्यांनी मेहनत केलेली नाही, ती काही शक्यतेची मर्यादा नाही. त्यामुळे तुमच्या आयुष्यातही जे अशक्य वाटतं ते याच पद्धतीने हाती घ्या — हळूहळू, थोडं थोडं वाढवत सराव करा, आणि विश्वास ठेवा की सरावच तुम्हाला तिथवर घेऊन जाईल.
Where this applies
- Practice transforms the asādhya into sādhya. Universal rule.
- Others' fear / inability is not your limit. Their non-abhyāsa is theirs.
- Cause is abhyāsa. Not talent, not special-grace alone.
- Abhyāsa-quality is deliberate-incremental-sustained. Not random-effort.