Abhanga 3232
Don't get swept into every intellectual trend or debate, since most opinions are empty and exhausting, and what you already hold in devotion is enough.
The verse
कोणाचिया न पडों छंदा । गोविंदासी आळवूं ॥१॥
बहुतांचीं बहु मतें । अवघे रिते पोकळ ॥ध्रु.॥
घटापटा ढवळी मन । होय सीण न करूं तें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे पांडुरंग । भरूं भाग आला तो ॥३॥
Literal translation
Won't-fall-into-anyone's-chanda; call-on-Govinda. Many-views are-rite-pōkaḷa. Ghaṭa-paṭa shakes-mana; that-is-sīṇa, we-won't. Tukā: Pāṇḍuranga our-bharu-bhāga came.
What it means
A 3-verse anti-philosophical-fashion text. Ghaṭa-paṭa refers to-the classical-Nyāya philosophical-disputes (using pot-and-cloth as standard-examples).
For someone today
Tukaram refuses to get swept along by whatever intellectual fashion or trend everyone else is following, he'd rather simply call out to Govinda. He notes that the countless opinions and philosophical debates people get caught up in are ultimately empty and hollow, and chasing them just tires out the mind for nothing. He'd rather stay simple: what he already has in his devotion is enough.
मराठी: तुकाराम इतरांच्या मागे लागलेल्या कोणत्याही बौद्धिक फॅशन किंवा प्रवाहात वाहवत जायला नकार देतात, त्यापेक्षा ते सरळ गोविंदाला हाक मारणं पसंत करतात. अनेक लोकांची असंख्य मतं आणि तात्त्विक वादविवाद शेवटी पोकळ आणि निरर्थक असतात, आणि त्यांच्या मागे धावणं फक्त मनाला विनाकारण थकवतं, असं ते म्हणतात. त्यांना साधेपणा हवा आहे, त्यांच्या भक्तीत जे आधीच आहे तेच पुरेसं आहे.
Where this applies
- When everyone around you is caught up in the latest intellectual trend or argument
- When you're tempted to join a debate that ultimately leads nowhere
- When you notice your mind is exhausted from chasing opinions instead of resting in something simple
- When you decide that what you already have is genuinely enough