Abhanga 3412
As your body slowly parts from you with age, do not wait until you are alone and worn down, be alert now and take charge of your own rescue.
The verse
चालिले सोबती । काय मानिली निश्चिती ॥१॥
काय करिसी एकला । काळ सन्निध पातला ॥ध्रु.॥
कांहीं सावध तो बरवा । करीं आपुला काढावा ॥२॥
चालिले अगळे । हळू च कान केश डोळे ॥३॥
वोसरले दांत । दाढा गडबडल्या आंत ॥४॥
एकली तळमळ । जिव्हा भलते ठायीं लोळे ॥५॥
तुका म्हणे यांणीं । तुझी मांडिली घालणी ॥६॥
Literal translation
Companions-leaving — what-niścintī. What-alone — Kāḷa-close. Be-sāvadha — pull-yourself-out. Ears-hair-eyes-recede-slowly. Teeth-fallen — molars-rattle-inside. Lone-restlessness — tongue-rolls-anywhere. Tukā: with-these — your-downfall-laid.
What it means
A striking 6-verse aging-body mortality text. The sōbatī (companions = ears/eyes/teeth/tongue) are leaving you piece-by-piece; Kāḷa is at the door; the very body has laid out your downfall. Companion to the 3-stage-of-life cluster at 3071-3073 (childhood-youth-old-age).
For someone today
Tukaram describes aging as a slow parting from your own body, your closest companions all along. Your hearing, your hair, your eyesight, all begin to fade away one after another, and death draws steadily closer while you may still feel a false sense of certainty about your time. Teeth fall out, molars loosen and rattle, and even the tongue starts to falter and stumble in place. Tukaram's warning is direct, do not wait until you're utterly alone and worn down to pay attention, be alert now and take responsibility for your own spiritual rescue while you still can.
मराठी: तुकाराम वृद्धत्वाला स्वतःच्याच शरीरापासून, आयुष्यभराच्या सोबत्यांपासून, हळूहळू होणारा वियोग म्हणून वर्णन करतात. तुमचे कान, केस, डोळे एकामागोमाग एक कमजोर होत जातात, आणि तुम्हाला अजूनही आपल्या वेळेबद्दल खोटी निश्चिंती वाटत असतानाच मृत्यू सतत जवळ येत असतो. दात पडतात, दाढा सैल होऊन आतल्या आत हलतात, आणि अगदी जीभही अडखळू लागते. तुकारामांचा इशारा स्पष्ट आहे, पूर्णपणे एकटे आणि थकलेले होईपर्यंत जागरूक होण्याची वाट पाहू नका, आत्ताच सावध व्हा आणि जोवर शक्य आहे तोवर स्वतःच्या आध्यात्मिक तारणाची जबाबदारी स्वतः घ्या.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's 6-verse aging-body mortality-warning
- Companion to 3071-3073 (3-stage-of-life cluster)
- Concrete catalog: ears, hair, eyes, teeth, molars, tongue