Abhanga 3491
When you are hurt or disgraced, step back from the crowd, tell your pain to God without hurry, and let your pride be broken, because that breaking is itself the best cure.
The verse
पावतों ताडन । तरी हें मोकलितों जन ॥१॥
मग मी आठवितों दुःखें । देवा सावकाश मुखें ॥ध्रु.॥
होती अप्रतिष्ठा । हो तों वरपडा कष्टा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे मान । होतां उत्तम खंडन ॥३॥
Literal translation
When-tāḍana — let-jana-go. Then-remember-duḥkha-to-Deva — sāvakāśa-mukhē. Let-apratiṣṭhā-happen — be-subject-to-kaṣṭa. Tukā: māna-broken — best-khaṇḍana.
What it means
A 3-verse welcome-of-suffering text. When blows come, I leave the people; then I tell Deva my pain at leisure; let dishonor come; the best cutting is the cutting of māna.
For someone today
When hard blows come, Tukaram withdraws from the crowd and takes his pain straight to God, speaking it out unhurried, in his own time. He does not fight to protect his reputation, but lets dishonor and hardship come if they must. He goes further and says that having his own pride cut down is actually the best kind of cutting there is, because it clears away what was blocking him.
मराठी: कठीण फटके बसतात तेव्हा तुकाराम गर्दीतून बाजूला होतात आणि आपले दुःख थेट देवाकडे घेऊन जातात, कोणतीही घाई न करता आपल्या वेळेत ते मोकळेपणाने बोलतात. आपली प्रतिष्ठा वाचवण्यासाठी ते झगडत नाहीत, तर अप्रतिष्ठा आणि कष्ट आले तर येऊ देतात. इतकेच नव्हे, तर स्वतःचा अहंकार तुटणे हीच खरी सर्वोत्तम कापणी आहे असे ते म्हणतात, कारण त्यामुळे जे अडथळा बनत होते ते दूर होते.
Where this applies
- When you are mocked or disrespected and your first instinct is to defend your image
- When you feel ashamed and want to hide instead of speaking honestly about your pain
- When your pride gets bruised and you resist the sting instead of letting it teach you something
- When you finally sit quietly with something greater than yourself to say what actually hurts