Abhanga 1557

Let other people's deaths wake you up now, before your own body is too weak to even move toward the divine.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Watch-others-cremations-become-alert abhang. A wake-up-call. The opening: ēka pāhātasām ēkāñcīm dahanēm — sāvadha tyā guṇē kām rē navhā — one — you watch — another's — cremations; — alert — by that quality — why don't you — become?You watch other people's cremations every day; why don't you become alert by that example?(Practical-pragmatic argument:use others' deaths as wake-up-call.)

The cry-out-now: mārā hāka Devā bhaya aṭṭāhāsē — jamva kāḷā-aisēm jālēm nāhīm — strike ahāka(loud-cry) — toDeva—fearfully— withaṭṭāhāsa(shrieking); —until—Kāla-like— hasnot happened(= until you're not at the verge yourself). Cry out fearfully now, before death-time arrives. Aṭṭāhāsa — the terrible-shriek; hāka — the call. Cry-with-fear, with-shrieking.

The diagnosis: maraṇāñcī tamva gāṇṭhōḍī padarīm — jiṇē tō chi vari māpa bharī — ofdeaths— there is — agāṇṭhōḍī(= small bundle) — in yourpadara(cloth-fold); —life—that very—fills— themāpa(measure) — to itsvari(top). You're carrying a bundle-of-deaths in your cloth-fold; the very-life is filling the measure to its top. The gāṇṭhōḍī-image: deaths bundled-up-and-carried-with-you; the māpa-image: life-itself is filling-up-the-measure of (your) deaths.

The closing-image: dhīnga vāhātī mārga — angā ālēm maga hālōm nēdī — theroads—flow—dhīnga(= forcefully); — to (the)anga— hascome; —then— won't let — (you)move. Dhīnga — forceful, disorderly; the death-roads flow violently; once it has come to the body, you can't even move. (= don't wait until paralysis sets in.)

[T]

For someone today

For today: you watch others' cremations every day — why don't you become alert by that example?; cry out fearfully and shrieking to Deva, while Kāḷa-time hasn't come; you're carrying a bundle of deaths in your cloth-fold, life fills the measure to its top; the death-roads flow forcefully — once it comes to your body, you won't even be able to move.

Where this applies

• When you hear of someone's death and feel a passing chill but go back to business as usual within the hour
• When you keep postponing prayer or reflection because you assume there will always be more time
• When you're healthy and busy and it seems easier to ignore mortality than face it
• When illness or old age finally arrives and you realize how much time you let slip by

Related verses

• 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
• Abhanga 2497 — For today: no travel-expense, body-mocked; daily Rāma Rāma — all say ; mouth without Rāma