Abhanga 3410
When you sense hostile people ganging up and watching for your faults, seek refuge and shelter rather than meeting hostility with more hostility.
The verse
लावूनि कोलित । माझा करितील घात ॥१॥
ऐसे बहुतांचे संधी । सांपडला खोळेमधीं ॥ध्रु.॥
पाहातील उणें । तेथें देती अनुमोदनें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे रिघे । पुढें नाहीं जालें धींगे ॥३॥
Literal translation
With-kindled-kōlita they'll-do-ghāta. Many's-sandhī, I-caught-in-khōḷē-madhī. They-look-for-uṇē, give-anumōdana. Tukā: I-take-refuge, no-dhīngē-ahead.
What it means
A 3-verse petition against enemies. They wait with-kindled-torch; they're looking for my fault and approving each-other's bad-intent; I take refuge in you.
For someone today
Tukaram describes the uneasy feeling of being surrounded by people who seem ready to harm him, waiting with torches lit as if for an ambush. He feels caught in the middle of many hostile alliances, watched closely by people who are only looking for his faults, and who applaud each other whenever they find one. Rather than fight or retaliate, he simply says he takes refuge, choosing shelter over confrontation before things turn violent. It shows that when you sense you're being ganged up on, the wiser move can be to seek protection rather than to meet hostility with more hostility.
मराठी: तुकाराम अशी अस्वस्थ भावना वर्णन करतात, जिथे अनेक लोक त्याला इजा करायला तयार असल्यासारखे वाटतात, जणू घात करण्यासाठी मशाली पेटवून वाट पाहत आहेत. अनेक शत्रुत्वाच्या युत्यांच्या मध्यभागी अडकल्यासारखे त्यांना वाटते, जिथे लोक फक्त त्यांच्या चुका शोधत असतात आणि चूक सापडली की एकमेकांना दाद देतात. लढण्याऐवजी किंवा प्रत्युत्तर देण्याऐवजी ते फक्त एवढेच सांगतात की मी शरण जातो, हिंसा टोकाला पोहोचण्याआधीच संघर्षापेक्षा आश्रय निवडतो. हे दाखवते की जेव्हा तुम्हाला जाणवते की अनेकजण तुमच्याविरुद्ध एकवटले आहेत, तेव्हा शहाणपणाचा मार्ग म्हणजे अधिक शत्रुत्वाने उत्तर देण्याऐवजी संरक्षण शोधणे.
Where this applies
- When you sense several people are quietly aligned against you, waiting for a chance to strike
- When critics seem to celebrate every mistake you make instead of offering honest feedback
- When you feel surrounded and unsure whether to fight back or seek safety instead
- When tension is building and you have a chance to seek shelter before things turn openly hostile