Abhanga 2475
Worldly life has no lasting happiness hidden in it, so stop chasing it eagerly and instead free yourself quickly by holding the divine in your heart.
The verse
सुख नाहीं कोठें आलिया संसारीं । वांया हांवभरी होऊं नका ॥१॥ दुःखबांदवडी आहे हा संसार । सुखाचा विचार नाहीं कोठें ॥ध्रु.॥ चवदा कल्पेंवरी आयुष्य जयाला । परी तो राहिला ताटीखालीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे वेगीं जाय सुटोनियां । धरूनि हृदयामाजी हरि ॥३॥
Literal translation
No sukha anywhere having come to samsāra — don't be eager in vain. This samsāra is duḥkha-binding — no thought of sukha anywhere. One with 14-kalpa lifespan — yet stayed under the screen. Tuka says: go quickly, freed — hold Hari in heart.
What it means
THE SAṀSĀRA-DUḤKHA-BINDING ABHANG.
The opening verdict: duḥkha-bāndavaḍī āhē hā samsāra — this samsāra is duḥkha-binding. Duḥkha-bāndavaḍī = duḥkha-prisoners-knot. This samsāra is duḥkha-prisoner's-knot; no sukha-thought anywhere.
The 14-kalpa-lifespan: chavadā kalpēm-varī āyuṣya jayālā — parī tō rāhilā tāṭī-khālīm — one with 14-kalpa lifespan — yet stayed under the screen. Even-one-with-14-kalpas-lifespan stays-veiled (under-the-screen) — duration-doesn't-give-insight.
[T]
For someone today
For today: no sukha in samsāra; samsāra is duḥkha-binding ; 14-kalpa lifespan still under-veil; go quickly, freed, with Hari in heart .
Where this applies
- When you keep hoping the next achievement or relationship will finally bring lasting happiness
- When you feel trapped in worry and obligation and sense that life itself is the knot holding you there
- When you assume that a long, comfortable life will automatically bring wisdom or peace
- When you're ready to stop waiting on the world and turn your attention inward toward the divine instead