संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2356 of 4582

Abhanga 2356

Real ease comes only when you feel met without comparison, and some meetings with the divine need solitude, privacy, and an open, unguarded mind.

When you feel resentful because you sense you are being treated unequally compared to others.

When you slip away from the crowd to be alone with your own prayer or thoughts.

When you keep a tender inner practice private because others would not understand it.

The verse

विशमाची शंका वाटे । सारिखें भेटे तरी सुख ॥१॥ म्हणऊनि चोरिलें जना । आल्या राणां एकांतीं ॥ध्रु.॥ दुजियासी कळों नये । जया सोय नाहीं हे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे मोकळें मन । नारायण भोगासी ॥३॥

Literal translation

The doubt of inequality occurs — if it's equal, then sukha. Therefore stolen from people — I've come into the rāṇa-forest in solitude. Let it not be known to another — who has no path to this. Tuka says: open mind — Nārāyaṇa for bhōga.

What it means

STOLEN-MEETING-IN-THE-RĀṆA ABHANG. Fifth of the gopikā-līlā cluster.

THE STOLEN-MEETING: chōrilē janā — ālyā rāṇām ēkāntīm — therefore stolen from people — I've come into the rāṇa-forest in solitude. Chōrilē janā = stolen [meeting] from people. Rāṇa = forest, wilderness. I've stolen-[time] from-people; come into-the-rāṇa-forest in-solitude. The gopī's-secret-tryst image.

The doubt-of-inequality: viśmāchī śankā vāṭē — sārikhē bhēṭē tarī sukha — the doubt of inequality occurs — if it's equal, then sukha. The doubt-of-inequality-(when-others-are-present)-occurs; only-when-equally-met is-sukha.

The closing — Nārāyaṇa-for-bhōga: Tukā mhaṇē mōkaḷē mana — Nārāyaṇa bhōgāsī — Tuka says: open mind — Nārāyaṇa for bhōga. Open-mind (uninhibited); Nārāyaṇa is-for-bhōga (enjoyment, mystical-union).

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For someone today

This verse names something quietly familiar, the discomfort of feeling treated unequally, and how real ease only comes when you feel met without comparison. Tukaram describes stealing away from the crowd into solitude, keeping this meeting from those who would not understand it anyway. He is not hiding out of shame, he is protecting something tender that needs an open, unguarded mind to be enjoyed fully. Some inner experiences need privacy and solitude, and comparing yourself to others only gets in the way of the ease that should come naturally.

मराठी: या अभंगात एक ओळखीची अस्वस्थता मांडली आहे, असमानतेने वागवले गेल्याची भावना, आणि खरे समाधान तेव्हाच मिळते जेव्हा तुलनेशिवाय भेट होते. तुकाराम गर्दीपासून दूर एकांतात जाण्याबद्दल सांगतात, ही भेट अशांपासून लपवून जे ती समजूच शकणार नाहीत. ते लाजेपोटी लपत नाहीत, तर एका नाजूक गोष्टीचे रक्षण करत आहेत जिचा पुरेपूर आनंद घेण्यासाठी मोकळे, निर्भर मन लागते. काही आंतरिक अनुभवांना एकांत आणि खासगीपणा लागतो, आणि इतरांशी तुलना केल्याने ते सहज समाधान हरवते.

Where this applies

When you feel uneasy because you sense you are being treated unfairly compared to someone else.
When you need to step away from the crowd to be alone with your own thoughts or prayer.
When you keep a tender practice or relationship private because others would not understand it.
When you have to consciously let go of comparison in order to feel real ease.

Bhakti