Abhanga 3391
Let people mock you if they must; real discernment weighs what actually bears fruit, not what keeps up appearances.
The verse
माझी आतां लोक सुखें निंदा करू । म्हणती विचारू सांडियेला ॥१॥
कारण होय तो करावा विचार । काय भीड भार करूं देवा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे काय करूं लापनिक । जनाचार सुख नासिवंत ॥३॥
Literal translation
Let-people sukhē-slander-me, saying-vichāru-abandoned. Vichāra about-what-bears-fruit — why-keep-bhīḍa-bhāra Deva. Tukā: what-shall-I-do-lāpanika — janāchāra-sukha is-nāśivanta.
What it means
A 3-verse defiance-of-public-opinion text. Let them slander me happily; I won't cover-up; worldly-conduct's pleasure is perishable.
For someone today
Tukaram tells the crowd to go ahead and mock him for abandoning good sense, because he has decided he is not going to live his life worrying about their opinion. What matters, he says, is thinking only about what actually bears fruit in the end, not about keeping up appearances or covering things over to please people. The pleasure of following worldly custom just to be liked is not lasting, so it is not worth building your life around. Real discernment means asking what will actually matter later, not what looks respectable right now.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात, लोकांनी माझी टिंगल उडवावी, मी विवेक सोडला असे म्हणावे, हरकत नाही, कारण मी आता त्यांच्या मताची चिंता करत जगणार नाही असे ठरवले आहे. खरा विचार तोच असतो जो शेवटी फळाला येतो, लोकांसमोर चांगले दिसण्यासाठी किंवा गोष्टी झाकण्यासाठी केलेला विचार नव्हे. लोकांना खूश ठेवण्यासाठी रूढी पाळण्याचे सुख टिकाऊ नसते, म्हणून त्याभोवती आयुष्य बांधणे योग्य नाही.
Where this applies
- When people call you foolish for not following the crowd's expectations
- When you're tempted to hide your true choices just to avoid being judged
- When you feel pressure to keep up appearances instead of doing what actually matters
- When the approval you get from fitting in starts to feel hollow and short-lived