Abhanga 3432
A life lived without real purpose or connection to what matters most feels hollow, so seek to live fully awake rather than merely existing.
The verse
कासया वांचूनि जालों भूमी भार । तुझ्या पायीं थार नाहीं तरी ॥१॥
जातां भलें काय डोळियांचें काम । जंव पुरुषोत्तम न देखती ॥ध्रु.॥
काय मुख पेंव श्वापदाचें धांव । नित्य तुझें नांव नुच्चारितां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आतां पांडुरंगाविण । न वांचतां क्षण जीव भला ॥३॥
Literal translation
Why-live-as-bhūmi-bhāra — no-thāra-at-pāya. What-eye's-work — without-Puruṣottama. Mouth-pēva-for-śvāpada — without-uttering-Name. Tukā: without-Pāṇḍuranga, not-living-kṣaṇa-better-for-jīva.
What it means
A striking 3-verse without-Lord-no-meaning text. Body without thāra is just bhūmi-bhāra; eyes without darśana have no use; mouth without Name is just a hollow for animals.
For someone today
Tukaram asks bluntly why he should even go on living if his life has no real footing in God, no anchor beyond just occupying space on earth. He questions what use his eyes are if they never truly see what matters most, and what use his mouth is if it never speaks that name, calling it just an empty hole like an animal's open mouth. This is raw, passionate language, not a literal wish for death, but a cry that a life without real devotion and purpose feels hollow to him. He's saying that a life fully lived, awake and connected, matters more than simply existing.
मराठी: तुकाराम स्पष्टपणे विचारतात की जर आयुष्याला देवाच्या ठायी खरा आधारच नसेल, फक्त पृथ्वीवर जागा अडवण्यापुरतेच जगणे असेल, तर जगण्याचा उपयोग तरी काय? डोळ्यांचा उपयोग काय जर ते खरोखर महत्त्वाचे ते कधी पाहतच नसतील, आणि तोंडाचा उपयोग काय जर त्यातून ते नामच कधी उच्चारले जात नसेल, तोंड मग जनावराच्या उघड्या तोंडासारखे रिकामे राहते. हे तीव्र, आवेगपूर्ण शब्द आहेत, मृत्यूची शब्दशः इच्छा नाही, तर खऱ्या भक्तीशिवाय आणि उद्देशाशिवाय जगणे किती पोकळ वाटते याचा हा आक्रोश आहे. ते म्हणतात की जागृत आणि जोडलेले परिपूर्ण जगणे केवळ अस्तित्वात राहण्यापेक्षा जास्त महत्त्वाचे आहे.
Where this applies
- When you feel like you're just going through the motions without any real sense of purpose
- When you realize you've stopped truly noticing or appreciating what matters most around you
- When your words have become empty habit instead of coming from real conviction or care
- When you crave a life that feels fully awake and connected rather than merely occupied