Abhanga 559
Real death is not the end of the body but losing your devotion to what matters most, so guard that connection more than you fear dying.
The verse
भीत नाहीं आतां आपुल्या मरणा । दुःखी होतां जना न देखवे ॥१॥ आमची तो जाती ऐसी परंपरा । कां तुम्ही दातारा नेणां ऐसें ॥ध्रु.॥ भजनीं विक्षेप तें चि पैं मरण । न वजावा क्षण एक वांयां ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नाहीं आघाताचा वारा । ते स्थळीं दातारा ठाव मागें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Not afraid — own maraṇa — jana duḥkhī — can't see. Our jāti — parampara — why — dātāra — don't know? Vikṣēpa — bhajana — maraṇa — no kṣaṇa in vain. Tuka says: no āghāta-vārā — sthaḷa — dātāra — ṭhāva ask.
मराठी: भीत नाहीं आतां आपुल्या मरणा — दुःखी होतां जना न देखवे. आमची तो जाती ऐसी परंपरा — कां तुम्ही दातारा नेणां ऐसें?. भजनीं विक्षेप तें चि पैं मरण — न वजावा क्षण एक वांयां. तुकाराम म्हणतां — नाहीं आघाताचा वारा — ते स्थळीं दातारा ठाव मागें.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| भीत नाहीं आतां आपुल्या मरणा | "not afraid — own maraṇa" |
| दुःखी होतां जना न देखवे | "jana duḥkhī — can't see" |
| आमची तो जाती ऐसी परंपरा | "our jāti — parampara" |
| कां तुम्ही दातारा नेणां ऐसें | "why — dātāra — don't know?" |
| भजनीं विक्षेप तें चि पैं मरण | "vikṣēpa in bhajana — maraṇa" |
| न वजावा क्षण एक वांयां | "no kṣaṇa — in vain" |
| नाहीं आघाताचा वारा | "no āghāta-vārā" |
| ते स्थळीं दातारा ठाव मागें | "sthaḷa — dātāra — ṭhāva ask" |
What it means
A not-afraid-of-own-maraṇa-bhajan-disturbance-is-death abhang. Continues 0557-558 invasion-cluster but with a key shift: the bhakta defines his own death not as physical-death but as bhajan-disturbance. Three claims:
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भीत नाहीं आतां आपुल्या मरणा — दुःखी होतां जना न देखवे — आमची तो जाती ऐसी परंपरा — कां तुम्ही दातारा नेणां ऐसें — not afraid — own maraṇa — jana duḥkhī — can't see — our jāti — parampara — why — dātāra — don't know? The opening-claim: I am not now afraid of my ownmaraṇa(death); but whenjanaareduḥkhī, I can't see (it); this is ourjāti'sparampara(tradition / lineage) (= the saint-lineage's-quality is to-be-pained-by-public-suffering);why don't You know this, dātāra?The saint-lineage-is-pained-by-public-suffering.
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भजनीं विक्षेप तें चि पैं मरण — न वजावा क्षण एक वांयां — vikṣēpa in bhajana — maraṇa — no kṣaṇa in vain. The real-death-claim: vikṣēpa (disturbance, distraction) in bhajana — that is the (real) maraṇa for me;let not one kṣaṇa (moment)go in vain. Bhajan-disturbance-is-the-real-death-not-physical-death. Bhakta-defines-death-by-the-bhajan-relation.
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तुका म्हणे नाहीं आघाताचा वारा — ते स्थळीं दातारा ठाव मागें — Tuka says: no āghāta-vārā — sthaḷa — dātāra — ṭhāva ask. The closing-petition: Tuka says: where there is noāghāta-vārā(wind-of-strikes, wind-of-blows-and-disturbance, the wind of public-calamity-and-bhajan-disturbance); at thatsthaḷa(place), dātāra, I ask for ṭhāva (place, refuge).Petition-for-place-without-disturbance.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram says he is no longer afraid of his own death, yet he cannot bear watching other people suffer, and he tells God this compassion is simply part of who devoted people are, wondering why God does not already understand that. Then he does something striking, he redefines what death actually means to him, saying the real death is not the end of the body but any interruption to his devotion, so he refuses to waste even a single moment of it. He closes by asking for one thing, a place untouched by the winds of calamity and disturbance, where his devotion can continue without being broken.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की त्यांना आता स्वतःच्या मृत्यूची भीती वाटत नाही, पण इतर लोकांचे दुःख बघणे त्यांना सहन होत नाही, आणि ते देवाला सांगतात की ही करुणा भक्त लोकांच्या स्वभावाचाच भाग आहे, आणि विचारतात की देवाला हे आधीच का कळत नाही. मग ते एक विलक्षण गोष्ट करतात, ते मृत्यूचा अर्थच बदलून टाकतात, म्हणतात की खरा मृत्यू म्हणजे शरीराचा अंत नाही तर त्यांच्या भक्तीत येणारा कोणताही व्यत्यय, म्हणून त्यातला एकही क्षण वाया घालवायला ते तयार नाहीत. शेवटी ते एकच गोष्ट मागतात, संकटाच्या आणि व्यत्ययाच्या वाऱ्यांपासून सुरक्षित असे एक स्थान, जिथे त्यांची भक्ती न तुटता चालू राहू शकेल.
Where this applies
- Not-afraid-own-death; pained-by-public. Saint-shoulder.
- Saint-lineage parampara. Tradition.
- Vikṣēpainbhajana=maraṇa. Real-death.
- Sthaḷa without strike-wind. Refuge-petition.