Abhanga 2808
This verse is a plain, honest confession. Tukaram acknowledges that karma is powerful and acts according to its own rule, dragging those who are already falling further down. He admits his own conduct has been false, and that this dishonesty has left him with a stinging feeling in the pit of his stomach, a physical sign that something is wrong. He closes with a bare admission: he has done neither devotional worship nor real service. The lesson is to trust that gut discomfort as a warning sign, and to answer it with honest confession rather than excuses.
The verse
बळिवंत कर्म । करी आपुला तो धर्म ॥१॥
पुढें घालुनियां सत्ता । न्यावें पतना पतिता ॥ध्रु.॥
आचरणें खोटीं । केलीं सलताती पोटीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे देवा । नाहीं भजन केली सेवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Baḷivanta karma — karī āpulā tō dharma — powerful karma — does its owndharma(rule). Puḍhe ghālunīyām sattā — putting (its own)sattā(authority) forward; nyāve patanā patitā — carries thepatita(fallen) topatana(fall, downfall). Ācharaṇe khoṭīm — kelīm salatātī pōṭīm — theācharaṇa(conduct) (was) false — has becomesalatātī pōṭī(stinging in the belly). Tukā says: Devā — nāhīm bhajana kelī sevā — Deva — no bhajana was done, no sevā.
What it means
A short honest-acknowledgment verse. Baḷivanta karma — karī āpulā tō dharma — powerful karma does its own dharma (rule, function). The acknowledgment: karma is powerful, and it acts according-to-its-own-rule; it doesn't ask-the-bhakta's-permission.
The dhrūpada: puḍhe ghālunīyām sattā — nyāve patanā patitā — putting (its) authority forward, (karma) carries the patita (fallen) to patana (downfall). The mechanism: karma puts forward its sattā (authority) and carries those-already-fallen further-downward.
The second verse: ācharaṇe khoṭīm — kelīm salatātī pōṭīm — the (own) conduct is false — has become stinging-in-the-belly. The bhakta acknowledges: my own ācharaṇa is khōṭā (false-fake); it has produced a salatātī-pōṭī (stinging-in-the-belly) somatic-symptom. The bhakta's-conduct itself produces the inner-distress.
The close: Devā — nāhīm bhajana kelī sevā — Deva — no bhajana was done, no sevā was done. The plain-confession: I have done neither bhajan nor sevā. The honesty-without-pretense.
For someone today
This verse is a plain, honest confession. Tukaram acknowledges that karma is powerful and acts according to its own rule, dragging those who are already falling further down. He admits his own conduct has been false, and that this dishonesty has left him with a stinging feeling in the pit of his stomach, a physical sign that something is wrong. He closes with a bare admission: he has done neither devotional worship nor real service. The lesson is to trust that gut discomfort as a warning sign, and to answer it with honest confession rather than excuses.
मराठी: हा अभंग एक साधी, प्रामाणिक कबुली आहे. तुकाराम मान्य करतात की कर्म शक्तिशाली आहे आणि ते स्वतःच्याच नियमाने चालते, आधीच पडणाऱ्याला अधिकच खाली ओढते. आपले स्वतःचे वर्तन खोटे राहिले आहे आणि या खोटेपणामुळे पोटात एक टोचणारी वेदना जाणवते आहे, काहीतरी चुकते आहे याची शारीरिक खूण, हे ते कबूल करतात. शेवटी ते स्पष्ट कबुली देतात — ना भजन झाले, ना खरी सेवा झाली. हा अभंग शिकवतो की पोटातील अशी अस्वस्थता एक इशारा मानावी, आणि सबबी न सांगता तिला प्रामाणिक कबुलीने उत्तर द्यावे.
Where this applies
- When you notice a nagging unease in your body after acting against your own values
- When you feel yourself sliding further into a bad pattern that seems to have its own momentum
- When you want to admit a failure honestly instead of making excuses
- When you've let your practice or commitments slip and need to say so plainly