Abhanga 3268
Tukaram confesses exhaustion with the repeating cycle of being born again and again, each time facing fresh humiliation and struggle. That fear finally drove him to surrender and take refuge in Vithoba. He describes the weight of his past actions, his prarabdha, as a heavy load on his back that keeps him from moving forward on his own strength. He is blunt about it: this ongoing humiliation is not some distant abstract problem, it is happening right now, in plain sight.
The verse
किती वेळां जन्मा यावें । नित्य व्हावें फजीत ॥१॥
म्हणऊनि जीव भ्याला । शरण गेला विठोबासी ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रारब्ध पाठी गाढें । न सरें पुढें चालत ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे रोकडीं हे । होती पाहें फजीती ॥३॥
Literal translation
How-many-times-come-to-janma — daily-phajita. Therefore jīva-feared, Viṭhōbā-śaraṇa. Prārabdha-pāṭha-gāḍha, can't-forward. Tukā: rōkaḍī-phajitī.
What it means
A short 3-verse claim. Cycle-of-shame led-to-Viṭhōbā-śaraṇa.
For someone today
Tukaram confesses exhaustion with the repeating cycle of being born again and again, each time facing fresh humiliation and struggle. That fear finally drove him to surrender and take refuge in Vithoba. He describes the weight of his past actions, his prarabdha, as a heavy load on his back that keeps him from moving forward on his own strength. He is blunt about it: this ongoing humiliation is not some distant abstract problem, it is happening right now, in plain sight.
मराठी: तुकाराम कबूल करतात की वारंवार जन्म घेण्याच्या आणि प्रत्येक वेळी नव्याने अपमान आणि संघर्ष सोसण्याच्या चक्राने ते थकले आहेत. त्या भीतीनेच शेवटी त्यांना शरण जाऊन विठोबाचा आश्रय घ्यायला भाग पाडले. आपल्या पूर्वकर्मांचे, प्रारब्धाचे ओझे पाठीवर जड होऊन बसले आहे आणि ते स्वतःच्या बळावर पुढे जाऊ देत नाही, असे ते सांगतात. हा सततचा अपमान काही दूरचा, अमूर्त प्रश्न नाही, तर आत्ता, याक्षणी, उघडपणे घडतो आहे, असे ते स्पष्टपणे मान्य करतात.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's daily-phajita; refuge-in-Viṭhōbā claim