Abhanga 3181
There are moments which are fort-junctures. No further deliberation, no retreat — the act made here decides everything. The real catastrophe is not the wound — it is the interruption that distances you from the path.
The verse
कोणाशीं विचार करावा सेवटीं । एवढ्या लाभें तुटी जाल्या तरे ॥१॥
सांभाळितो शूर आला घावडाव । पुढें दिला पाव न करी मागें ॥ध्रु.॥
घात तो या नांवें येथें अंतराय । अंतरल्या पाय गोविंदाचे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे गडसंदीचा हा ठाव । केला तो उपाव कार्या येतो ॥३॥
Literal translation
Kōṇāśīm vichāra karāvā sēvaṭīm — ēvaḍhyā lābhēm tuṭī jālyā tarē — with whom to consider at the end — if by this much gain the tuṭī is crossed. Sāmbhāḷitō śūra ālā ghāvaḍāva — puḍhem dilā pāva na karī māgēm — the śūra defends — the blow has come — (he) sets foot forward — does not (turn) back. Ghāta tō yā nāmvēm yēthēm antarāya — antaralyā pāya Govindāche — ghāta by this name here is antarāya — Govinda's feet have been distanced. Tukā mhaṇe gaḍa-sandīchā hā ṭhāva — kēlā tō upāva kāryā yētō — Tukā says: this is the gaḍa-sandhi place — the upāya done (here) works for the kārya.
What it means
A 4-verse decisiveness-text using fort-warfare imagery. Gaḍa-sandhi = the narrow juncture of a hill-fort where a small force can decide everything. At such a place: no time to consult, no time to retreat. The śūra steps forward, takes the blow. The real ghāta (disaster) is not death — it is antarāya (interruption) that distances Govinda's feet. The decisive act here settles the whole kārya.
For someone today
There are moments which are fort-junctures. No further deliberation, no retreat — the act made here decides everything. The real catastrophe is not the wound — it is the interruption that distances you from the path.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's fort-juncture decisiveness; antarāya-distances-Govinda's-feet canonical
- Mahārāṣṭra warrior-vocabulary repurposed for bhakti-decisive-moment