Abhanga 3148
Much of our suffering comes not from real distance but from the feeling of separateness itself, and the divine may have been near all along.
The verse
बैसलों तों कडियेवरी । नव्हें दुरी वेगळा ॥१॥
घडलें हें बहुवा दिसां । आतां इच्छा पुरवीन ॥ध्रु.॥
बहु होता जाला सीण । नाहीं क्षण विसांवा ॥२॥
दुःखी केलें मीतूंपणें । जवळी नेणें होतें तें ॥३॥
पाहात जे होतों वास । ते चि आस पुरविली ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे मायबापा । झणी कोपा विठ्ठला ॥५॥
Literal translation
Baisalōm tōm kaḍiyevarī — I was sitting on (your) lap; navhe duri vegaḷā — not far, not separate. Ghaḍale he bahuvā disām — this happened over many days; ātām ichchhā puravīna — now fulfill (the) ichchhā. Bahu hōtā jālā sīṇa — there was much sīṇa; nāhī kṣaṇa visāmvā — not a kṣaṇa of viśāmvā. Duḥkhī kele mī-tūm-paṇe — made duḥkhī by mī-tūm-paṇa; javaḷī neṇe hōte te — (you were) near, didn't-know. Pāhāta je hōtōm vāsa — what I was watching-for; te chi āsa puravilī — that āśā is fulfilled. Tukā mhaṇe māyabāpā — Tukā says: māyabāpa; jhaṇī kōpā Viṭhṭhalā — don't get angry, Viṭhṭhala.
What it means
A 5-verse realization text by Tukārām: the suffering was mī-tūm-paṇa (the sense of I-and-you-as-separate) — the Lord was near all along, just unrecognized.
For someone today
Tukārām's realization: the dualistic-mind itself caused the duḥkha; you were always-near. The mature-bhakti recognition.
Where this applies
- When you realize, after a long stretch of longing, that what you were seeking was closer than you thought
- When you notice that your own sense of separation, not actual distance, has been causing your pain
- When you feel exhausted from searching and want to trust that rest and closeness are finally here
- When you feel embarrassed about past doubt or struggle and want to ask forgiveness gently