Abhanga 2799
A pure mind is your real welfare, nothing else accompanies you beyond what you have genuinely earned, so use this fleeting human life while you still have it.
The verse
ऐका गा ए अवघे जन । शुद्ध मन तें हित ॥१॥
अवघा काळ नव्हे जरी । समयावरी जाणावें ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं कोणी सवें येता । संचिता या वेगळा ॥२॥
बरवा अवकाश आहे । करा साहे इंद्रियें ॥३॥
कर्मभूमीऐसा ठाव । वेवसाव जाणावा ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे उत्तम जोडी । जाती घडी नरदेह ॥५॥
Literal translation
Aikā gā e avaghe jana — listen, O all-people; śuddha mana te hita — pure-mind is thehita(welfare). Avaghā kāḷa navhe jarī — even if not (always) all-time; samayāvarī jāṇāve — know-at-the-samaya(right-occasion). Nāhī kōṇī save yētā — no one comessave(along-with) (you); samchitā yā veGaḷā — separate from thissamchita(accumulated-karma). Baravā avakāśa āhe — theavakāśa(opportunity) isbaravā(good); karā sāhe indriyē — let the indriyas help. Karma-bhūmi-aisā ṭhāva — this place iskarma-bhūmi-like; vyavasāya jāṇāvā — thevyavasāya(business) should be known. Tukā says: uttama jōḍī — jātī ghaḍī nara-deha — theuttama jōḍī(excellent joining) — thenara-deha(human-body) isjātī ghaḍī(slipping-every-ghaṭikā).
What it means
A 5-verse exhortation verse. Aikā gā e avaghe jana — śuddha mana te hita — listen, all people — pure-mind is the welfare. The opening direct-address: to everyone. The basic-claim: śuddha-mana (pure-mind) is the hita (welfare); not external-fortune.
The dhrūpada: avaghā kāḷa navhe jarī — samayāvarī jāṇāve — even if not all-time — know-at-the-occasion. Concession to-human-limitation: even if you can't be pure-minded all-time, at-least-be-so-at-the-right-occasion.
The second verse: nāhī kōṇī save yētā — samchitā yā veGaḷā — no one comes along — separate from this samchita. The mortality-clear-claim: only samchita (accumulated-merit-and-karma) accompanies you; no other being or relation does. (Compare 2747's Harīvīṇa nāhī sakhā.)
The third verse names the opportunity: baravā avakāśa āhe — karā sāhe indriyē — there is good opportunity — let the indriyas help. The avakāśa (window-of-opportunity) is baravā (good) — i.e., the time-is-now. Let the indriyas (senses) cooperate (sāhe = help) — turn them toward the welfare.
The fourth verse: karma-bhūmi-aisā ṭhāva — vyavasāya jāṇāvā — this place is karma-bhūmi — the business should be known. Karma-bhūmi (the field-of-karmic-action — traditionally identified as the human-birth, since other-realms are bhōga-bhūmi). The vyavasāya (business, occupation) of karma-bhūmi is what should-be-known.
The close: uttama jōḍī — jātī ghaḍī nara-deha — the excellent joining — the human-body is slipping every ghaṭikā. Uttama-jōḍī (the most-excellent acquisition) is the nara-deha (human-body) — but it is jātī ghaḍī (slipping every 24-minute-unit). The urgency.
For someone today
Tukārām calls out to everyone listening with a plain, urgent message: a pure mind is what truly benefits you, more than anything you can acquire. He is realistic, admitting you cannot stay perfectly pure every moment, but urges you to at least recognize the right moments when it matters most. He reminds you that when the time comes, no one travels with you, only what you have genuinely earned through your own effort goes along. Right now, he says, you have a good window of opportunity, so let your senses and faculties work in your favor instead of against you. This world, he adds, is the field where your actions truly count, so understand what your real work here is. He closes with real urgency, this human body, the finest thing you have been given, is slipping away minute by minute, so do not waste the time you have.
मराठी: तुकाराम महाराज ऐकणाऱ्या सगळ्यांना एक साधा, तातडीचा संदेश देतात: शुद्ध मन हेच खरं हित आहे, इतर कोणत्याही मिळकतीपेक्षा जास्त. ते वास्तववादी आहेत, प्रत्येक क्षणी पूर्ण शुद्ध राहणं शक्य नाही हे मान्य करतात, पण किमान महत्त्वाच्या क्षणी योग्य वेळ ओळखा असं आग्रहाने सांगतात. ते आठवण करून देतात की तो क्षण येतो तेव्हा कोणीही तुमच्यासोबत जात नाही, फक्त स्वतःच्या प्रयत्नाने खरोखर कमावलेलं तेवढंच सोबत जातं. सध्या तुमच्याकडे चांगली संधी आहे, म्हणून तुमच्या इंद्रियांना विरोधात नव्हे तर तुमच्या बाजूने काम करू द्या, असं ते सांगतात. हे जग, ते पुढे म्हणतात, ती जागा आहे जिथे तुमच्या कृतींना खरं महत्त्व आहे, म्हणून इथलं तुमचं खरं काम काय आहे हे समजून घ्या. शेवटी ते खरी निकड दाखवतात, हा मनुष्यदेह, जो तुम्हाला मिळालेली सर्वोत्तम गोष्ट आहे, तो क्षणाक्षणाने निसटत चालला आहे, म्हणून हाती असलेला वेळ वाया घालवू नका.
Where this applies
- When you feel discouraged that you cannot stay spiritually focused every single moment of the day
- When you are grieving or anxious about death and wonder what, if anything, truly goes with a person
- When you catch yourself wasting time and need a wake-up call about how limited your years actually are
- When you are unsure what your real purpose or work is meant to be in this life