Abhanga 3323
The burdens that weigh you down are the ones you carry yourself, so do your own duty freely and give without holding on, like the philosopher's stone that enriches others while remaining plain itself.
The verse
ज्याचे माथां जो जो भार । ते चि फार तयासी ॥१॥
मागें पुढें अवघें रितें । कळों येतें अनुभवें ॥ध्रु.॥
परिसा अंगीं अमुपसोनें । पोटीं हीन धातु चि ॥२॥
आपुला तो करि धर्म । जाणे वर्म तुका तें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Whoever's-head-has-bhāra — that-is-fāra-for-him. Behind-ahead-all-empty — known-by-anubhava. Pāris-has-amupasonē-on-body; pōṭa-has-only-hīna-dhātu. Do-your-dharma — Tukā-knows-the-varma.
What it means
A 3-verse paradox-text: the pāris turns metal into gold for others, yet itself is a stone — gives-without-keeping. The bhāra one bears is what weighs one down. Do-your-own-dharma — Tukā-knows-the-secret.
For someone today
Tukaram observes that whatever burden a person carries on his own head is what actually weighs him down, no one else's load presses on you the way your own does. Looking honestly at both the past and the future, he says, you find they are essentially empty, and that clarity only comes through real experience, not theory. He offers a striking paradox as example, the philosopher's stone turns ordinary metal into limitless gold for others, yet it remains, in itself, just plain stone. Do your own duty faithfully, he concludes, give without holding on to the results, that quiet secret is what Tukaram says he has learned.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की माणूस स्वतःच्या डोक्यावर जो भार घेतो, तोच त्याला खरा जड होतो, दुसऱ्याचं ओझं तुम्हाला तसं टोचत नाही जसं स्वतःचं टोचतं. मागचं आणि पुढचं दोन्ही प्रामाणिकपणे पाहिलं तर ते बहुतांशी रितं असतं, हे ज्ञान केवळ प्रत्यक्ष अनुभवातूनच मिळतं, असं ते म्हणतात. ते एक विलक्षण विरोधाभास सांगतात, परिस दुसऱ्यांना अमाप सोनं देतो, पण स्वतः मात्र साधा दगडच राहतो. आपलं कर्तव्य प्रामाणिकपणे करावं, फळाची अपेक्षा न धरता द्यावं, हेच खरं वर्म आहे असं तुकाराम सांगतात.
Where this applies
- When you feel weighed down by worries or possessions that are really your own attachments, not anyone else's
- When you look honestly at your past achievements or future plans and realize how little lasting substance they held
- When you give generously to others without expecting credit or keeping anything back for yourself
- When you are trying to understand what it means to simply do your duty without craving a reward