Abhanga 2950
Do not overthink or delay turning toward what is good, because sincere repentance clears the way instantly and change can happen in this very moment.
The verse
अभिमानी पांडुरंग । गोवा काशाचा हो मग ॥१॥
अनुसरा लवलाहीं । नका विचार करूं कांहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
कोठें राहतील पापें । जालिया हो अनुतापें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ये चि घडी । उभ्या पाववील थडी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Abhimānī Pāṇḍuranga — Pāṇḍuranga (is)abhimānī(proud-of-his-followers, partisan); gōvā kāśāñcā hō maga — what is thegōvā(entanglement) (for the bhakta) then? Anusarā lavalāhī — follow quickly (withanusara= surrender,lavalāhī= quickly); nakā vichāra karūm kāmhī — don'tvichāra karūm(consider, deliberate) anything. Kōṭhe rāhatīla pāpe — where willpāpastay; jāliyā hō anutāpe — onceanutāpa(repentance) has happened? Tukā says: ye chi ghaḍī — in this veryghaḍī(moment); ubhyā pāvavīla thaḍī — standing, (he'll) take (you) to thethaḍī(shore).
What it means
A short anusara-quickly prayer. Abhimānī Pāṇḍuranga — gōvā kāśāñcā hō maga — Pāṇḍuranga is partisan-for-his-bhaktas — what is the entanglement then? The opening-claim: Pāṇḍuranga isabhimānī(takes-sides for-his-followers); so what-stops-anyone-from-joining?
Anusarā lavalāhī — nakā vichāra karūm kāmhī — surrender quickly — don't deliberate anything. The discipline: don't-deliberate; surrender-quickly. The deliberation-itself is the obstacle.
Kōṭhe rāhatīla pāpe — jāliyā hō anutāpe — where will pāpa stay — once anutāpa has happened? The bhakti-claim: anutāpa (true-repentance) burns pāpa; no place-for pāpa-to-stay.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe ye chi ghaḍī — ubhyā pāvavīla thaḍī — in this very moment, standing, (he'll) take to shore. The immediate-promise: not-after-many-births, but in-this-very-instant.
For someone today
Panduranga is already on the side of his devotees, so what's really holding you back? Tukaram urges you to surrender quickly, without endless deliberation, because overthinking itself becomes the obstacle. Once genuine repentance rises in the heart, there's simply no room left for past wrongs to linger. He promises that this can happen right now, in this very moment — the Lord is ready to carry you across to the far shore the instant you stop hesitating.
मराठी: पांडुरंग आधीच आपल्या भक्तांच्या बाजूने असतो, मग तुला कशाची अडचण वाटते? तुकाराम सांगतात, फार विचार न करता लगेच शरण जा — कारण अतिविचार हाच खरा अडथळा बनतो. मनापासून खरा पश्चात्ताप झाला की मग जुन्या पापांना राहायला जागाच उरत नाही. ते वचन देतात की हे याच क्षणी घडू शकते — तू संकोच सोडलास की देव तुला लगेच पैलतीराला नेतो.
Where this applies
- When you keep overthinking whether you're ready to change instead of just starting
- When guilt about the past makes you doubt whether you can be forgiven
- When you need to trust that a turning point can happen right now, not eventually