Abhanga 3275
The restless mind fuels the senses' cravings, and it is words, not silence, that carve reality into separate, named parts.
The verse
चत्ति तें चिंतन कल्पनेची धांव । जे जे वाढे हांव इंद्रियांची ॥१॥
हात पाव दिसे शरीर चालतां । नावें भेद सत्ता जीवाची ते ॥ध्रु.॥
रवीचिये अंगीं प्रकाशक कळा । वचनें निराळा भेद दिला ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे माप वचनाच्या अंगीं । मौन्य काय रंगीं निवडावें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Chitta-is-chintana-kalpanā-dhāva; whatever-grows-hāva-of-indriyas. Hand-foot-seen as-body-moves; bheda-by-names-jīva-sattā. Ravi-angīm prakāśaka-kaḷā; by-vachana niraḷa-bheda. Tukā: vachana-angīm-māpa; mauna-not-distinguished-in-ranga.
What it means
A 3-verse text on vachana-as-distinguishing-agent. Speech-makes-distinction; silence-leaves-the-ranga-unmarked.
For someone today
Tukaram observes that the mind is really just a constant stream of thought and imagination, and that whatever the senses crave grows directly out of that mental restlessness. He notices that we only perceive the body as separate parts, hand, foot, and so on, because we have given each part a distinct name. This need to name and divide is what creates the sense of separateness in the world. Words and speech are what draw these lines and distinctions, he says, while silence does not carve anything up at all.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की मन खरे तर विचारांचा आणि कल्पनांचा सतत चालणारा प्रवाह आहे, आणि इंद्रियांची जी काही ओढ वाढते ती याच मानसिक अस्वस्थतेतून निर्माण होते. ते सांगतात की शरीर हात, पाय असे वेगवेगळे भाग म्हणून दिसते, कारण आपण प्रत्येक भागाला वेगळे नाव दिलेले आहे. हे नाव देण्याची आणि वेगळे करण्याची सवयच जगात वेगळेपणाची जाणीव निर्माण करते. शब्द आणि वाणीच या रेषा आणि भेद आखतात, तर मौन काहीच विभागत नाही, असे ते सांगतात.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself constantly labeling and categorizing your experience instead of simply observing it.
- When restless mental chatter seems to feed cravings you did not have a moment ago.
- When silence in a conversation or in meditation feels unfamiliar because you are used to definitions and distinctions.
- When you wonder why something felt whole and undivided before you tried to put it into words.