Abhanga 3485
The distance you feel is often your own doubt rather than a real difference; stop the exhausting hide-and-seek and simply stay close.
The verse
दूरि तों चि होतों आपुले आशंके । नव्हतें ठाउकें मूळभेद ॥१॥
आतां जेथें तेथें येइन सांगातें । लपाया पुरतें उरों नेदीं ॥ध्रु.॥
मिथ्या मोहें मज लाविला उशीर । तरी हे अंतर जालें होतें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे कां रे दाखविसी भिन्न । लटिका चि सीण लपंडाईं ॥३॥
Literal translation
I-stayed-distant-by-own-āśankā — mūḷa-bhēda-not-known. Now-wherever-I-come-along — no-room-to-hide. Mithyā-mōha-gave-uśīra — so-antara-came. Tukā: why-show-bhinna — lapaṇḍāī-is-laṭika-sīṇa.
What it means
A 3-verse closing-distance text. I stayed distant by my own doubt; now I'll come wherever you go; it was false-attachment that gave the delay; the hide-and-seek is a false-fatigue.
For someone today
Tukaram admits that the distance he felt from God was entirely his own doing, created by his own doubt and suspicion, not by any real difference between them. He resolves that from now on he will stay close wherever God is, leaving no room to hide or wander off again. He recognizes that it was his own false attachments that caused the delay and the sense of separation in the first place. He ends by asking why anyone would keep playing a game of hide-and-seek, when the exhaustion it causes is entirely unnecessary and based on nothing real.
मराठी: तुकाराम कबूल करतात की जो दुरावा त्यांना जाणवत होता तो पूर्णपणे स्वतःच्याच शंकेमुळे निर्माण झाला होता, त्यांच्यात आणि देवात खरा भेद नव्हताच. आतापासून जिथे जाल तिथे मी सोबत येईन, लपायला जागा ठेवणार नाही, असा निर्धार ते करतात. आपल्याच खोट्या मोहामुळे उशीर झाला आणि हे अंतर निर्माण झाले, हे ते ओळखतात. शेवटी ते विचारतात की हा लपंडाव कशाला खेळायचा, कारण त्याने होणारा शीण खोटा आणि निरर्थक आहे.
Where this applies
- When you realize a rift with someone or something you love was caused by your own doubt, not a real difference
- When you have been avoiding closeness out of fear rather than facing it directly
- When you notice your own attachments or distractions caused a delay in returning to what matters
- When you feel tired of a pattern of pulling close and then pulling away again