Abhanga 3135
Staying faithful to the path you have already found, while honestly asking the divine to watch over your limited strength, matters more than constantly changing course.
The verse
एकविध आम्ही न धरूं पालट । न संडूं ते वाट सांपडली ॥१॥
म्हणवूनि केला पाहिजे सांभाळ । माझें बुद्धीबळ पाय तुझे ॥ध्रु.॥
बहुत न कळे बोलतां प्रकार । अंतरा अंतर साक्ष असे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आगा जीवांच्या जीवना । तूं चि नारायणा साक्षी माझा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Ekavidha āmhī na dharūm pālaṭa — we are ekavidha — won't hold to pālaṭa; na samḍūm te vāṭa sāmpaḍalī — won't abandon the vāṭa found. Mhaṇavūnī kelā pāhije sāmbhāḷa — therefore (you) must do sāmbhāḷa; mājhe buddhi-baḷa pāya tujhe — my buddhi-baḷa is your pāya. Bahuta na kaḷe bōlatām prakāra — many prakāras not known when spoken; antarā antara sākṣa ase — antara-antara is the sākṣa. Tukā mhaṇe āgā jīvāñcyā jīvanā — Tukā says: O Jīvāñcyā-jīvanā; tūm chi Nārāyaṇā sākṣī mājhā — you yourself, Nārāyaṇa, are my sākṣī.
What it means
A 3-verse bhakti-steadfastness text by Tukārām.
The claim: We are-ekavidha (single-fold); won't-change-pālaṭa; won't-abandon-the-path-found. Therefore-you-must-do-sāmbhāḷa. My-intellect-strength is-your-pāya. Many-prakāras can't-be-spoken; antara-antara is-the-sākṣī. Jīvāñcyā-jīvanā, you-yourself are-my-sākṣī.
The closing-claim is striking: the-Lord-himself-is-the-bhakta's-witness — Jīvāñcyā-jīvanā (life-of-lives) is the address.
For someone today
Tukārām's bhakti-steadfastness. We are one-fold — (we) will not change. (We) will not abandon the path (we) have found. Therefore (you) must cherish — my buddhi-strength is your feet. Many of the modes cannot be known when spoken; the innermost is the witness. O Life-of-lives — you yourself, Nārāyaṇa, are my witness. The verse offers this claim: that the Lord himself is the devotee's witness.
मराठी: तुकाराम आपल्या स्थिरतेबद्दल सांगतात. आम्ही एकनिष्ठ आहोत, बदलणार नाही; एकदा सापडलेली वाट सोडणार नाही. म्हणून तूच माझा सांभाळ करायला हवा — माझी बुद्धी, माझे बळ, हे सारे तुझ्याच पायांशी आहे. अनेक गोष्टी बोलून सांगता येत नाहीत; अंतरीचा साक्षीदार अंतरातच असतो. तुकाराम म्हणतात, हे जीवांच्या जीवना, नारायणा, तूच माझा साक्षी आहेस. अशा प्रकारे हा अभंग सांगतो की देवच स्वतः भक्ताच्या अंतरंगाचा साक्षीदार असतो.
Where this applies
- When you have committed to a path and are tempted to keep switching approaches instead of staying the course
- When you feel proud of your own effort but need to admit your strength has limits and ask for support
- When you struggle to explain your inner spiritual experience to others in words
- When you want reassurance that something beyond yourself truly witnesses what you are going through inside