Abhanga 2914
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 that vichāra (consideration), somewhat.
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 that vichāra (consideration), somewhat. Maraṇa jō māge gāḍhavāñcā bāḷa — (the one) who asks for maraṇa (death) — (is a) gāḍhavāñcā bāḷa (son of a donkey); bōlije chāṇḍāḷa śuddha tyāsī — truly called a chāṇḍāḷa (most-degraded). Tukā says: kaī hōīla sva-hita — when will (his) sva-hita (own-welfare) happen?; nidhāna jō thīta ṭākum pāhe — (when) the nidhāna (treasure) which is thīta (available, right-here), (he) is trying to ṭākum 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 the nidhāna (treasure) right-at-hand; throwing-it-away makes one's sva-hita impossible.
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
A canonical anti-suicide / pro-life claim. (There is) no need to give (up) life — naturally it will go anyway. Know the consideration. The one who asks for death — (is a) donkey-son; truly called a chāṇḍāḷa. When will (his) sva-hita happen — (when) the treasure right-here, (he) is trying to throw away? The verse permits strong anti-suicide rebuke: (1) don't deliberately die — it happens by-itself; (2) death-seeking is degradation; (3) life-is-the-treasure (nidhāna); (4) throwing-it-away prevents-sva-hita. The discipline-implication: use-this-life for sva-hita (spiritual-welfare); don't waste-it-by-seeking-death.
Where this applies
- The canonical don't-ask-for-death; life-is-the-treasure-keep-it anti-suicide claim
- Recognizing life-is-nidhāna-thīta (the-treasure-right-here) claim
- Who-asks-for-death = chāṇḍāḷa-truly anti-suicide-warning
- The life-as-opportunity-for-sva-hita claim