Abhanga 526

Tukaram speaks here like someone hopelessly in love, saying that without Vitthal no one else feels like real kin to him. He describes a longing that has taken hold so completely that he counts the days, night and day, on his fingers, the way a person waits for someone dear to come home. Ordinary work has stopped tasting sweet to him, because his mind keeps returning to the one thing he actually wants. The lesson is simple: when you truly long for something or someone, that longing itself becomes a kind of constant remembering, almost like meditation, and it quietly makes everything else feel less interesting.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A without-You-no-sōyarē-counting-days-on-fingertips abhang. Lover's-petition register. The bōṭīm-lēkhīm (counting on fingertips) image is from the bridal-bhakti / lover-waiting genre. Three claims:

1. तुजविण मज कोण वो सोयरें — आणीक दुसरें पांडुरंगे — without You — who sōyarē for me? — none other, Pāṇḍurangē. The no-sōyarē-claim: without You (tujavīṇa) — who issōyarē(relative-by-marriage, kin-by-affinity) for me? None other (āṇika dusarē) —Pāṇḍurangē(Pāṇḍuranga in feminine-vocative). No-relation-outside-You. Exclusive-affinity-claim.

2. लागलीसे आस पाहा तुझें वास — रात्री वो दिवस लेखीं बोटीं — āsa fallen — see Your vāsa — rātrī-divasa count on bōṭē. The waiting-and-counting-claim: theāsa(hope, longing) haslāgalīsē(taken-hold); see (pāhā) Yourvāsa(waiting, the-act-of-waiting-for-You); rātrī-divasa (night-and-day) — I lēkhīm (count, mark) on the bōṭē (fingertips).Counting-the-days-of-waiting-on-fingers.The bridal-bhakta / lover-waiting image.

3. काम गोड मज न लगे हा धंदा — तुका म्हणे सदा हें चि ध्यान — kāma not gōḍa — dhandā doesn't fit — Tuka says: always — this only — the dhyāna. The closing-exclusive-dhyāna-claim: kāma (work, action) is not gōḍa (sweet, pleasing);this dhandā (occupation, business) — na lagē (doesn't fit, doesn't suit);Tuka says: always — this only — the dhyāna (meditation, contemplation).No-work-pleasant-because-only-deva-is-the-dhyāna.Lover's-distraction-from-all-work.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram speaks here like someone hopelessly in love, saying that without Vitthal no one else feels like real kin to him. He describes a longing that has taken hold so completely that he counts the days, night and day, on his fingers, the way a person waits for someone dear to come home. Ordinary work has stopped tasting sweet to him, because his mind keeps returning to the one thing he actually wants. The lesson is simple: when you truly long for something or someone, that longing itself becomes a kind of constant remembering, almost like meditation, and it quietly makes everything else feel less interesting.

मराठी: तुकाराम इथे अगदी प्रेमात बुडालेल्या माणसासारखे बोलतात, ते म्हणतात की विठ्ठलाशिवाय त्यांना कोणीही खरे आपले वाटत नाही. त्यांची ओढ इतकी गडद झाली आहे की ते रात्रंदिवस बोटांवर दिवस मोजत राहतात, जसे कोणी आपल्या प्रिय व्यक्तीच्या परतण्याची वाट पाहतो. रोजचे काम त्यांना गोड वाटेनासे झाले आहे, कारण त्यांचे मन सतत त्या एकाच गोष्टीकडे वळत राहते. यातून हा धडा मिळतो की जेव्हा आपल्याला एखाद्या गोष्टीची किंवा व्यक्तीची खरी ओढ असते, तेव्हा ती ओढच सतत आठवण ठेवण्याचे, जणू ध्यानासारखे रूप घेते, आणि बाकी सगळे आपोआप कमी महत्त्वाचे वाटू लागते.

Where this applies

• No sōyarē without You. Exclusive-affinity.
• Count Your vāsa on fingers. Lover-counting-days.
• No work sweet — dhyāna only. Lover-distraction.
• Pāṇḍurangē feminine vocative. Bridal-mode.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar