Abhanga 3073
Since old age strips away the body's dignity anyway, stop clinging to worldly business and use whatever time remains to remember the divine name.
The verse
म्हातारपणीं थेटे पडसें खोकला । हात कपाळाला लावुनि बैसे ॥१॥
खोबरियाची वाटी जालें असे मुख । गळतसे नाक श्लेष्मपुरी ॥ध्रु.॥
बोलों जातां शब्द नये चि हा नीट । गडगडी कंठ कफ भारी ॥२॥
सेजारी म्हणती मरेना कां मेला । आणिला कांटाळा येणें आम्हां ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे आतां सांडुनी सर्वकाम । स्मरा राम राम क्षणक्षणा ॥४॥
Literal translation
Mhātārapaṇī theṭe paḍase khōkalā — in old-age, fierce paḍase-khōkalā; hāta kapāḷālā lāvunī baise — (he) sits with hand on forehead. Khōbariyāñcī vāṭī jāle ase mukha — the mouth has become a coconut-bowl; gaḷatsē nāka śleṣma-purī — the nose leaks śleṣma-purī. Bōlōm jātām śabda naye chi hā nīṭa — when going to speak, the words don't come straight; gaḍagaḍī kaṇṭha kapha bhārī — the throat rattles, heavy with kapha. Sejārī mhaṇatī marenā kām melā — neighbors say: why doesn't this dead-one die; āṇilā kāṇṭāḷā yeṇe āmhām — he has brought annoyance to us. Tukā mhaṇe ātām sāṇḍunī sarva-kāma — Tukā says: now, abandoning all karma; smarā Rāma Rāma kṣaṇa-kṣaṇā — remember Rāma Rāma at every moment.
What it means
The 3rd-and-closing-text of-the-3-stage-of-life biographical cluster (3071-3072-3073).
The 4 portraits of mhātāra-paṇa (old-age): 1. Fierce-cough-and-cold; hand-on-forehead-sits-helpless 2. Mouth-toothless-coconut-bowl; nose-leaks-phlegm-river 3. Words-don't-come-straight; throat-rattles-with-kapha 4. Neighbors-want-him-dead
The closing-call: now-abandon-all-action, remember-Rāma-Rāma at-every-moment. The whole-3-stage-cluster's-arc resolves-here: childhood-played, youth-wasted, old-age-helpless — only-Rāma-Rāma now.
The portrait of old-age is striking-and-unsentimental: the toothless-mouth, the leaking-nose, the unintelligible-speech, the rattling-throat, the neighbors-saying why-doesn't-the-dead-one-die. This is bhakti-shock-medicine — the body-decays, only-the-Name remains.
The 3-stage-cluster as-a-whole is a life-as-vanity meditation, structurally-similar to traditional Hindu anitya-bhāvanā (impermanence-meditation). But-Tukārām makes-it specifically-personal-and-vivid with 17th-c-Deccan-detail.
For someone today
Tukārām's mhātāra-paṇa portrait. In old-age, fierce cough-and-cold; hand placed on forehead, (he) sits. The mouth has become a coconut-bowl (toothless); the nose leaks phlegm-river. When (he) goes to speak, the words don't come straight; the throat rattles, heavy with kapha. The neighbors say: Why doesn't this dead-one die? — we are annoyed with him. Now, abandoning all action, remember Rāma Rāma at every moment. The verse permits the bhakta-shock-medicine of old-age-portrait, with the call to remember-Rāma-Rāma now.
Where this applies
- When you're caring for an aging parent and want to understand what indignities old age can bring
- When you're afraid of growing old and losing your body's strength and dignity
- When you feel impatient or burdened by an elderly relative's decline
- When you keep postponing spiritual practice for later and need a reminder that time is short