Abhanga 2797
When time finally comes to claim you, no parent, ruler, leader, or relative can save you, only God can, so do not place your ultimate trust in worldly protectors.
The verse
नको नको मना गुंतूं मायाजाळीं । काळ आला जवळी ग्रासावया ॥१॥
काळाची हे उडी पडेल बा जेव्हां । सोडविना तेव्हां मायबाप ॥ध्रु.॥
सोडवीना राजा देशींचा चौधरी । आणीक सोइरीं भलीं भलीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तुला सोडवीना कोणी । एका चक्रपाणी वांचूनियां ॥३॥
Literal translation
Nakō nakō manā guntūm māyā-jāḷīm — don't, don't, mind —guntūm(entangle yourself) in themāyā-jāḷa(māyā-net); kāḷa ālā javaḷī grāsāvayā — Time has come near togrāsa(devour). Kāḷāñcī hē uḍī paḍela bā jevhām — when Time'suḍī(leap) falls; soḍavīnā tēvhām māyabāpa — then mother-father will notsoḍavīnā(save, release). Soḍavīnā rājā — therājā(king) will not save; dēśīñcā chaudharī — the country'schaudharī(elder, magistrate); āṇika sōyarīm bhalīm bhalīm — and other very-good kinsmen (won't save). Tukā says: tulā soḍavīnā kōṇī — no one will save you; ekā Chakra-pāṇī vāmchūnīyām — exceptekā Chakra-pāṇī(one Chakrapāṇi alone).
What it means
This abhang is one of Tukārām's canonical mortality-warning texts, daily-recited in Vārkarī mortality-meditation.
The opening direct-address: nakō nakō manā guntūm māyā-jāḷīm — don't, don't, mind — entangle in the māyā-net. The doubled-imperative (nakō nakō) is emphatic. The bhakta addresses his own mind directly. Manā (mind) is the vocative-second-person.
The warning: kāḷa ālā javaḷī grāsāvayā — Time has come near to devour. Grāsa (devour, swallow-up) — Time's appetite is to devour. And Time has come near — the proximity is named.
The four-fold insufficiency of worldly-protectors: 1. Māyabāpa (mother-father) — biological-parents 2. Rājā (king) — political-authority 3. Dēśīñcā chaudharī (country-elder, local-magistrate) — civic-power 4. Sōyarīm bhalīm bhalīm (other very-good kinsmen) — social-family
None of these soḍavīnā (saves/releases) when Time's uḍī (leap) falls. The four cover the full-spectrum of worldly-protectors.
The singular-rescuer claim: tulā soḍavīnā kōṇī — ekā Chakra-pāṇī vāmchūnīyām — no one will save you — except one Chakrapāṇi alone. The ekā... vāmchūnīyām construction is the only-one-except formula. Chakrapāṇi (Viṣṇu the Discus-holder) is the sole-rescuer.
This is the mortality-clear-thinking that pairs with 2677 (jarā karṇa-mūḷīm sāngōm ālī gōṣṭī — old-age tells stories at the ear's-root). 2677 is the old-age-warning; 2797 is the Time-devours-warning. Together they form Tukārām's daily-mortality-discipline pair.
For someone today
This is one of Tukaram's classic verses for facing mortality, meant to be recited daily until its truth sinks in. He speaks firmly to his own mind: don't get tangled in illusion, because time has drawn near to consume you. When death's moment actually arrives, no one can save you, not your parents, not a king, not a local official, not even your closest relatives. Tukaram names each of these protectors only to set them aside one by one, until a single rescuer remains: God alone, whom he calls Chakrapani. Pray this verse whenever that clarity is needed, or better yet, make it part of your daily practice.
मराठी: तुकारामांचा हा एक प्रसिद्ध अभंग आहे, जो मृत्यूच्या सत्याला सामोरे जाण्यासाठी रोज म्हणण्यासाठी रचला आहे. ते आपल्याच मनाला ठामपणे सांगतात — मायेच्या जाळ्यात अडकू नकोस, कारण काळ तुला गिळण्यासाठी जवळ आला आहे. जेव्हा मृत्यूचा क्षण खरोखर येतो, तेव्हा कोणीही तुला वाचवू शकत नाही — आईवडील नाहीत, राजा नाही, गावचा अधिकारी नाही, अगदी जवळचे नातेवाईकही नाहीत. तुकाराम एकेक करून सर्वांना बाजूला सारतात, आणि शेवटी एकच तारणहार उरतो — चक्रपाणी, म्हणजे परमेश्वर स्वतः. ही स्पष्टता हवी असेल तेव्हा हा अभंग म्हणा, किंवा त्याहून बरे, तो रोजच्या साधनेचा भाग बनवा.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself putting your deepest sense of security in wealth, status, or powerful connections
- When the thought of death or the passage of time suddenly feels close and unsettling
- When you realize that even people who love you most cannot actually protect you from certain things
- When you want a clear-eyed reminder to redirect your trust toward something more lasting than worldly power