Abhanga 3246
Do not let modesty or hesitation delay your commitment; act at once, hold onto what matters, and keep your resolve unbroken.
The verse
जरि हे आड यती लाज । कैसें काज साधतें ॥१॥
कारण केलें उठाउठी । पायीं मिठी घातली ॥ध्रु.॥
समपिऩला जीव भाव । धरिला भाव अखंड ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आड कांहीं । काळ नाहीं घातला ॥३॥
Literal translation
Jari he āḍa yatī lāja — if lāja were to come in-the-way; kaise kāja sādhate — how would the kāja be fulfilled. Kāraṇa kele uṭhāuṭhī — (I) made the kāraṇa happen instantly; pāyīm miṭhī ghātalī — placed a miṭhī at (your) feet. Samarpilā jīva bhāva — (I have) offered jīva (and) bhāva; dharilā bhāva akhaṇḍa — held the bhāva unbroken. Tukā mhaṇe āḍa kāmhī — Tukā says: in-the-way anything; kāḷa nāhī ghātalā — did not let kāḷa be placed.
What it means
A short 3-verse resolve by Tukārām.
The claim: If-modesty-stands-in-way, no-work-fulfilled. (I) made-the-cause happen-immediately — placed-knot-at-feet. Offered-jīva-bhāva, held-bhāva-akhaṇḍa. Didn't-let-kāḷa-stand-in-way.
The miṭhī ghātalī pāyīm (placed-knot-at-feet) is the canonical-bhakti-image of-grasping-the-Lord's-feet-tightly.
For someone today
Tukārām's resolve. If modesty were to come in-the-way — how would the work be fulfilled? (I) made the cause happen instantly — placed a knot at (your) feet. (I have) offered (my) life and feeling — held the feeling unbroken. I did not let time be placed in-the-way in-any-way. The verse permits the bhakti-resolve: no-modesty, knot-at-feet, kāḷa-doesn't-intervene.
Where this applies
- When you keep delaying a heartfelt commitment because you feel embarrassed to be seen as too devoted or too eager
- When you tell yourself you will start tomorrow instead of acting on a resolve you have already made today
- When self-consciousness about how others will judge your faith keeps you from expressing it fully
- When your devotion feels wavering and you need to hold it steady instead of letting it break