Abhanga 3395
When you grow distant from ordinary worldly ties, stop clinging to fleeting joy and sorrow, and act with whatever compassion you can manage.
The verse
रुसलों आम्हीं आपुलिया संवसारा । तेथें जनाचारा काय पाड ॥१॥
आम्हां इष्ट मित्र सज्जन सोयरे । नाहीं या दुसरें देवाविण ॥ध्रु.॥
दुराविले बंधु सखे सहोदर । आणीक विचार काय तेथें ॥२॥
उपाधिवचन नाइकती कान । त्रासलें हें मन बहु माझें ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे करा होईंल ते दया । सुख दुःख वांयां न धरावें ॥४॥
Literal translation
Alienated-with-our-samsāra — what-pāḍa-of-janāchāra. Iṣṭa-mitra-sajjana-sōyarē — no-second-beyond-Deva. Brothers-distanced — no-other-vichāra. Ears-won't-listen-to-upādhi-vachana — mind-greatly-trāsalē. Tukā: do-as-your-dayā-permits — don't-hold-sukha-duḥkha-in-vain.
What it means
A 4-verse radical-vairāgya text. I've broken with my own world; my well-wishers and kin are all Deva; brothers distanced; my ears refuse worldly-talk; do-as-you-please with sukha-duḥkha.
For someone today
Tukaram describes reaching a point where he has grown estranged from ordinary worldly life, and from that place, the usual social expectations simply stop mattering to him. He says his only true friend, well-wisher, and family left is God, even as his own brothers and companions have drifted away and he no longer has answers for that loss. His ears have stopped listening to idle worldly talk because his mind has grown so tired of it. His closing advice is not bitterness but release, act with whatever compassion you can manage, and stop clinging tightly to either joy or sorrow as if they were permanent.
मराठी: तुकाराम असा एक टप्पा सांगतात, जिथे सामान्य संसारापासून ते दुरावले आहेत, आणि त्या जागेवरून समाजाच्या नेहमीच्या अपेक्षा त्यांना महत्त्वाच्या वाटेनाशा होतात. ते म्हणतात, माझा खरा मित्र, हितचिंतक आणि आप्त फक्त देवच आहे, कारण माझे स्वतःचे भाऊ आणि सोबती दुरावले आहेत आणि त्या हरवण्याला माझ्याकडे उत्तर नाही. माझे कान निरर्थक जगिक बोलण्याकडे लक्ष देत नाहीत कारण माझे मन त्याला खूप कंटाळले आहे. शेवटी ते कटुतेने नव्हे तर सोडून देण्याच्या भावनेने सांगतात, जेवढी दया करता येईल तेवढी करा, आणि सुख-दुःख कायमचे आहेत असे समजून त्यांना घट्ट धरून ठेवू नका.
Where this applies
- When you feel estranged from family or old friends and don't know how to make sense of that distance
- When worldly gossip and small talk have started to feel exhausting rather than interesting
- When you find your deepest sense of companionship coming from faith rather than people around you
- When you're tempted to hold too tightly to a good mood or a bad one, as if it will last forever