Abhanga 2927
Notice the moment your mind actually turns toward God after years of pointless circling, and let yourself be soaked completely in that devotion.
The verse
आतां पुढें मना । चाली जाली नारायणा ॥१॥
येथें राहिलें राहिलें । कैसें गुंतोनि उगलें ॥ध्रु.॥
भोवतें भोंवनी । आलियांची जाली धणी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे रंग रंग । रंगलें पांडुरंगे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Ātām puḍhe manā — now ahead, O mind; chālī jālī Nārāyaṇā — thechālī(walking) has happened — toward Nārāyaṇa. Yethe rāhile rāhile — here (I have) stayed and stayed; kaise gumtōnī ugale — how (have I) been entangled uselessly? Bhōvate bhōmvanī — going round and round; āliyāñcī jālī dhaṇī — (the limit) ofāliyāñcī(those-having-come, the births that came) has beendhaṇī(full, exhausted). Tukā says: ranga ranga — color upon color; rangale Pāṇḍurange — (I have been)rangale(dyed, colored) in Pāṇḍuranga.
What it means
A short mind-now-walks-to-Nārāyaṇa verse. Ātām puḍhe manā — chālī jālī Nārāyaṇā — now ahead, O mind — walking has come about toward Nārāyaṇa. The opening-claim: the mind has-now-started-walking-toward-Nārāyaṇa.
Yethe rāhile rāhile — kaise gumtōnī ugale — here (I have) stayed and stayed — how entangled uselessly. The honest-confession: I have been stuck here (in samsāra) for too long, entangled-uselessly.
Bhōvate bhōmvanī — āliyāñcī jālī dhaṇī — going round and round — (the limit of) those-having-come has been fulfilled/exhausted. The cycle-recognition: the rounds of rebirth have-reached-their-fullness.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe ranga ranga — rangale Pāṇḍurange — color upon color — dyed in Pāṇḍuranga. The bhakta-saturation-claim: I am thoroughly-color-stained in Pāṇḍuranga.
For someone today
Tukaram speaks to his own mind and notices something has finally shifted: it is now walking toward Narayana instead of staying stuck where it has been for so long. He is honest that all that staying and circling was pointless entanglement, going round and round without getting anywhere. He senses the endless cycle of coming back again and again has run its course, reached its limit. What remains is a mind so soaked in Pandurang that it has taken on his color completely. This verse names a real turning point: the moment you notice your mind has actually started moving toward God instead of just circling old habits.
मराठी: तुकाराम स्वतःच्या मनाशी बोलतात आणि लक्षात येते की काहीतरी अखेर बदलले आहे, इतका काळ अडकून राहिलेल्या जागी न राहता मन आता नारायणाकडे चालू लागले आहे. इतके दिवस थांबून राहणे आणि गोल फिरत राहणे व्यर्थ गुंतागुंत होती, हे ते प्रामाणिकपणे मान्य करतात. वारंवार परत येण्याचे हे चक्र आता आपली मर्यादा गाठून संपल्यासारखे त्यांना जाणवते. उरते ते म्हणजे पांडुरंगाच्या रंगात इतके भिजलेले मन की त्याने त्याचाच रंग पूर्णपणे धारण केला आहे.
Where this applies
- When you notice, after years of stagnation, that your mind has genuinely started turning toward something higher
- When you look back honestly and see how much time you spent stuck in useless habits or worries
- When you feel like you keep repeating the same patterns or mistakes in a circle without progress
- When your devotion finally feels less like effort and more like something you are naturally soaked in