Abhanga 2914
Life itself is a treasure already in your hands, so do not wish it away; use the time you have for your own deepest good instead.
The verse
न लगे द्यावा जीव सहज चि जाणार । आहे तो विचार जाणा कांहीं ॥१॥
मरण जो मागे गाढवाचा बाळ । बोलिजे चांडाळ शुद्ध त्यासी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे कई होईंल स्वहित । निधान जो थीत टाकुं पाहे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Na lage dyāvā jīva — (there is) no need to give (up) life; sahaja chi jāṇāra — (it is) naturally going to go (anyway); āhe tō vichāra jāṇā kāmhī — know thatvichāra(consideration), somewhat. Maraṇa jō māge gāḍhavāñcā bāḷa — (the one) who asks formaraṇa(death) — (is a)gāḍhavāñcā bāḷa(son of a donkey); bōlije chāṇḍāḷa śuddha tyāsī — truly called achāṇḍāḷa(most-degraded). Tukā says: kaī hōīla sva-hita — when will (his)sva-hita(own-welfare) happen?; nidhāna jō thīta ṭākum pāhe — (when) thenidhāna(treasure) which isthīta(available, right-here), (he) is trying toṭākum pāhe(throw away)?
What it means
A 3-verse anti-suicide / pro-life canonical claim verse. Na lage dyāvā jīva sahaja chi jāṇāra — don't give (up) life — it goes naturally anyway. The opening: don't deliberately give-up-life; it goes-by-itself eventually.
Maraṇa jō māge gāḍhavāñcā bāḷa — bōlije chāṇḍāḷa śuddha tyāsī — who asks for death — (is a) donkey-son; truly called a chāṇḍāḷa. The harsh-rebuke: the death-seeker is the most-degraded (chāṇḍāḷa) — a donkey's son.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe kaī hōīla sva-hita — nidhāna jō thīta ṭākum pāhe — when will sva-hita happen — when the treasure that's right-here, (he) is trying to throw away? The diagnostic-claim: life is thenidhāna(treasure) right-at-hand; throwing-it-away makes one'ssva-hitaimpossible.
The reasoning: life is the opportunity for sva-hita (own-welfare-spiritual-pursuit). Throwing-life-away discards-the-opportunity. The death-seeker is chāṇḍāḷa because-he-destroys his own-spiritual-opportunity.
For someone today
You don't need to give up on life — it will end on its own in its own time, so think this through carefully. Tukaram speaks harshly of anyone who longs for death, calling such a wish degraded and foolish. His deeper point is simple: your life itself is the treasure you already hold in your hands, right here, right now. When will you ever do right by yourself if you're busy trying to throw away the very treasure meant for your own good?
मराठी: जीव द्यायची गरज नाही — तो आपोआपच एक दिवस निघून जाणार आहे, म्हणून याचा नीट विचार करा. जो कोणी मरणाची इच्छा धरतो, त्याबद्दल तुकाराम कठोर शब्दांत बोलतात — अशी इच्छा हीन आणि मूर्खपणाची असते, असे ते म्हणतात. त्यांचा खरा मुद्दा साधा आहे: तुमचे स्वतःचे आयुष्य हेच तुमच्या हातातील खजिना आहे, इथेच, आताच. जो हातातला हा खजिना, जो तुमच्याच भल्यासाठी आहे, फेकून देण्याचा प्रयत्न करतो, त्याचे स्वतःचे हित कधी साधणार?
Where this applies
- When you're in despair and tempted to wish your life away instead of living it out
- When you're treating the time you have left as worthless instead of as something precious
- When you need a reminder that this life is your one real chance to pursue your own deepest good
- When you're waiting for an ending to solve a problem instead of using the life you still have