Abhanga 3265
Fear and confusion come from mistaking appearances, like a reflection or a rope in the dark, for reality, and they end only once the mind truly knows the truth within.
The verse
चंचळीं चंचळ निश्चळीं निश्चळ । वाजवी खळाळ उदकासी ॥१॥
सोपें वर्म परि मन नाहीं हातीं । हा हा भूत चित्ती भ्रम गाढा ॥ध्रु.॥
रविबिंब नाहीं तुटत उदका । छायेची ते नका सरी धरूं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे भय धरी रज्जूसाटीं । नाहीं साच पोटीं कळलें तों ॥३॥
Literal translation
Chañchaḷa-in-chañchaḷa, niśchaḷa-in-niśchaḷa; plays-khaḷāḷa in-udaka. Sōpe-varma, but-mana-not-in-hand; gāḍha-bhrama in-chitta. Ravi-bimba-doesn't-break in-udaka; don't-take-sari with-chhāyā. Tukā: fears-rajju until-sacha known in-pōṭa.
What it means
A canonical text using-Advaita-rajju-sarpa-bhrama image-applied-to-bhakti.
For someone today
Using the classic image of mistaking a rope for a snake in the dark, Tukaram teaches that fear and confusion come from not seeing things as they truly are. He points out that even though the sun's reflection ripples and shakes on water, the sun itself never actually breaks or moves; the movement is only in the reflection, not in the reality behind it. In the same way, the mind builds deep delusions about things that seem restless or still, and it only stops trembling with fear once it truly knows the truth in its core. The secret is easy to state, Tukaram says, but hard to hold, because the mind rarely stays in our control.
मराठी: अंधारात दोरीला साप समजण्याच्या प्रसिद्ध उदाहरणाद्वारे तुकाराम शिकवतात की भीती आणि भ्रम गोष्टी जशा आहेत तशा न पाहिल्यामुळे निर्माण होतात. ते सांगतात, पाण्यावर सूर्याचे प्रतिबिंब हलत असले तरी सूर्य स्वतः कधीच तुटत किंवा हलत नाही; हालचाल फक्त प्रतिबिंबात, दिसण्यापुरती असते, प्रत्यक्षात नसते. त्याचप्रमाणे मन चंचल किंवा स्थिर वाटणाऱ्या गोष्टींबद्दल खोल भ्रम निर्माण करते, आणि जोपर्यंत मनाला अंतःकरणात खरे सत्य कळत नाही तोपर्यंत ती भीती थांबत नाही. तुकाराम म्हणतात, हे रहस्य सांगायला सोपे आहे, पण मन आपल्या ताब्यात राहत नसल्याने ते जगणे कठीण आहे.
Where this applies
- When a fear grips you that turns out, on closer look, to have no real substance.
- When surface changes and disturbances in your life make you doubt something that is actually steady underneath.
- When you keep confusing an image or reflection of a person or situation with the reality itself.
- When you know a truth intellectually but your mind still won't settle into that knowing.