Abhanga 3194
Truth spoken from lived grace may not be heard by those without real feeling, but it should still be told, patiently, step by step.
The verse
वचनाचा अनुभव हातीं । बोलविती देव मज ॥१॥
परि हें न कळे अभाविकां । जडलोकां जिवांसी ॥ध्रु.॥
अश्रुत हे प्रसादिक । कृपा भीक स्वामीची ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे वरावरी । जातों तरी सांगत ॥३॥
Literal translation
Vachanāchā anubhava hātīm — bōlavitī Deva maja — the anubhava of the vachana is in (my) hand — Deva makes me speak. Pari hēm na kaḷē abhāvikām — jaḍalōkām jivāmsī — but this is not known to abhāvikas — to jaḍa-loka jīvas. Aśruta hē prasādika — krpā bhīka svāmīchī — these are aśruta-prasādika — krpā as the Svāmī's alms. Tukā mhaṇe varāvarī — jātōm tarī sāngata — Tukā says: step-by-step — I am going (and) telling.
What it means
A 4-verse authorship-disclaimer. Tukārām claims: the anubhava of what I say is in my own hand — i.e., the words are vouched by lived experience. But Deva speaks through me. The aśruta-prasādika compound is striking: aśruta = not heard (in śruti/Veda); yet prasādika = grace-bestowed. So these utterances do not derive from textual lineage — they come as the Svāmī's bhīkṣā of kṛpā. The abhāvika and jaḍa-loka-jīva cannot hear this — the absence of bhāva is itself the deafness.
For someone today
Some truths cannot be heard by those without bhāva — not because the truth is hidden, but because the receiver is closed. When you speak from lived grace, expect that dull-hearts will not hear. Speak step by step anyway.
Where this applies
- When you share something deeply true and find that some people simply cannot grasp it
- When you speak from your own real experience rather than from something you memorized
- When you feel discouraged that your words are not landing with someone who lacks the feeling to receive them
- When you keep sharing something important patiently, one step at a time, despite an unready audience