Abhanga 2176

For today: holding desire — it flees afar — festivities follow udāsa; stop the mind — I'm telling secret-sign; all secret in restraint — indulgence brings toil; Tuka says — carry the seed — fruit comes there.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Desire-flees-festivities-follow-udāsa + carry-seed-fruit-follows abhang. Ends with ॥४॥ — closes 4-abhang sub-cluster (2173-2176).

The paradox: dharitām ichchhā durī paḷē — pāṭhī sōhaḷē udāsā — holding desire, it flees afar — festivities follow the udāsa (detached-one). The one-who-holds-desire (= grasps for-it) finds-it-flees; festivities-follow the udāsa (= detached-one). A core-Tukārām-paradox: desire-grasped flees; desire-released brings sōhaḷē (festivities).

The stop-the-mind: mhaṇa'ūni asaṭa mana — nakā khuṇa sāngatōm — therefore stop the mind — I'm telling you the secret-sign. Asaṭa = stop, restrain. Khuṇa = secret-sign, mark. Therefore stop-the-mind — I'm telling-you the secret-sign.

The restraint-is-all-secret: āvisāpāsī avaghē varma — sōsa śrama pāvavī — all the secret is in restraint — indulgence brings toil. Āvisa = restraint, holding-back. Sōsa = indulgence, gratification. All-the-varma (= secret-essence) is-in-restraint; indulgence brings-toil.

The closing — seed-and-fruit: Tukā mhaṇē bīja nyāvē — tēthē yāvē phaḷānē — Tuka says: carry the seed — let the fruit come there. Carry-the-seed (= the prema/Name/restraint); the fruit-will-come there (= where-it's-planted). Echoes 2164's fruit-like-seed.

The ॥४॥ colophon closes a 4-abhang sub-cluster (2173-2176): 2173 (world-laughs-with-laugher), 2174 (prayer-template), 2175 (body-for-bhōga-apart-from-honor), 2176 (desire-flees-festivities-follow-udāsa). A coherent renunciation-instruction-cluster.

[T]

For someone today

For today: holding desire — it flees afar — festivities follow udāsa; stop the mind — I'm telling secret-sign; all secret in restraint — indulgence brings toil; Tuka says — carry the seed — fruit comes there.

Where this applies

• When you're chasing a desire so hard that it keeps slipping further away
• When you notice more contentment after you stopped grasping at something
• When you're tempted to indulge a craving and end up more worn out for it
• When you're impatient for results and want to force an outcome instead of doing steady work

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with