Abhanga 2677
Old age is already whispering that death is near, so Tukaram says wake up now, focus on what truly matters, and let go of empty talk.
The verse
जरा कर्णमूळीं सांगों आली गोष्टी । मृत्याचिये भेटी जवळी आली ॥१॥
आतां माझ्या मना होई सावधान । वोंपुण्याची जाण कार्यसिद्धी ॥ध्रु.॥
शेवटील घडी बुडतां न लगे वेळ । साधावा तो काळ जवळी आला ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे चिंतीं कुळींची देवता । वारावा भोंवता शब्द मिथ्या ॥३॥
Literal translation
Old age (jarā) has come to the karṇa-mūḷa (ear's-root) — telling stories; the mrtyāñchiyē bhēṭī (Death's meeting) has come near. Now, my mind — become sāvadhāna (alert, attentive); the jāṇa (knowledge) of vōmpuṇya is work-accomplishment. The final ghaṭikā to drown — takes no time; that kāḷa (moment) to be mastered has come near. Tukā says: meditate on the kula-dēvatā (family-deity); drive away the bhōmvatā śabda mithyā (surrounding false-words).
What it means
A celebrated mortality-warning verse. The opening image is unforgettable: jarā karṇa-mūḷīm sāngōm ālī gōṣṭī — mrtyāchiyē bhēṭī javaḷī ālī — old age has come to the ear's-root, telling stories — Death's meeting has come near. Jarā (old age) is personified as a story-teller who has come up close to the ear (karṇa-mūḷa = ear's-root). She is whispering stories — but the message is plain: Death's meeting has arrived in the neighborhood. The image of old-age-as-whisperer-at-the-ear has become a celebrated Marathi mortality-trope.
The dhrūpada is the urgent prompt: ātām mājhyā manā hōī sāvadhāna — vōmpuṇyāchī jāṇa kārya-siddhi — now my mind, become alert (sāvadhāna) — the knowledge of vōmpuṇya is the work-accomplishment. Sāvadhāna — the sevadhāna call given at death-bedsides and at sacred-moments — be alert. Vōmpuṇya — vō-puṇya, the knowledge of merit-and-its-fruit-mastery — is the kārya-siddhi (work-accomplishment) for this final-stage.
The second verse: śevaṭīla ghaḍī buḍatām na lagē vēḷa — sādhāvā tō kāḷa javaḷī ālā — the final ghaṭikā to drown — takes no time; that kāḷa (moment) to be mastered has come near. Ghaṭikā (a 24-minute unit) — the final-ghaṭikā can drown the whole life-effort in no time. The kāḷa to be sādhāvā (mastered) is here.
The close: chintīm kuḷīñchī dēvatā — vārāvā bhōmvatā śabda mithyā — meditate on the kula-dēvatā (family-deity); drive away the surrounding false-words (śabda-mithyā). The dying-stage prompt: meditate on the family-deity, drive away the false-words circulating around you. The Vārkarī's kula-dēvatā is Viṭhṭhala — chintā Viṭhṭhalā — is the final-stage focus.
For someone today
The verse is one of the most-quoted Tukārām mortality-prompts. Old age has come to your ear's-root and is telling stories — Death's meeting is in the neighborhood; become alert; the knowledge of merit-and-fruit is your work-accomplishment now; the final ghaṭikā drowns in no time, and that moment is near. Meditate on the family-deity; drive away the surrounding false-words.
Two practical instructions: meditate on the kula-dēvatā (settle on the central love-figure of your life-tradition), and drive away the surrounding false-words (the noise of dying-room conversations, the well-meaning chatter, the regret-stories). The dying-mind needs the simple addressee, not the surrounding-words.
Where this applies
- Final-stage of life and the mortality-warning prompt
- Recognizing the old-age-whispering-at-the-ear as a sound-image to attend to
- Be alert — the sāvadhāna call to the dying-mind
- Meditating on the kula-dēvatā and driving away the surrounding śabda-mithyā