Abhanga 3498
Stop wasting time on empty talk, act on the good in front of you right now, and let necessary hardship refine what is false in you into what is true.
The verse
कोरडिया ऐशा सारून गोष्टी । करा उठाउठीं हित आधीं ॥१॥
खोळंबला राहे आपुला मारग । पहावी ते मग तुटी कोठें ॥ध्रु.॥
लौकिकाचा आड येईंल पसारा । मग येरझारा दुःख देती ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे डांख लागे अळंकारें । मग नव्हे खरें पुटाविण ॥३॥
Literal translation
Set-aside-kōraḍa-stories — do-hita-uṭhāuṭhī. Mārga-stalled — find-the-tuṭī. Lokika-pasārā-comes-in-way — yēra-jhārā-give-duḥkha. Tukā: ḍānkha-attaches-to-ornament — needs-puṭa-fire-to-be-true.
What it means
A 3-verse urgent-advice text. Set aside dry-stories; do good immediately; the worldly-spread blocks the path; the ornament needs the refining-fire to become true.
For someone today
Tukaram tells you to set aside empty, dry talk and do the good thing right now, without delay. If your own path feels stuck, stop and look carefully for exactly where the break is. Worldly clutter and busyness will keep getting in the way, and left unchecked they lead to repeated cycles of suffering. He compares this to an ornament tarnished by alloy: it only becomes true gold after passing through the refining fire.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की कोरड्या, निरर्थक गप्पा बाजूला ठेवून आत्ताच चांगले काम करा, उशीर करू नका. जर तुमचा मार्ग अडखळत असेल तर थांबून नीट पाहा की नेमका तुटीचा बिंदू कुठे आहे. सांसारिक पसारा आणि व्यग्रता वारंवार आडवी येत राहील, आणि तिच्याकडे दुर्लक्ष केले तर ती वारंवार दुःखाच्या फेऱ्यांना कारण बनते. ते याची तुलना भेसळ लागलेल्या दागिन्याशी करतात, जो फक्त शुद्धीकरणाच्या आगीतून गेल्यावरच खरे सोने बनतो.
Where this applies
- When you keep talking about self-improvement instead of acting on it today
- When your progress feels blocked and you need to find exactly where things went wrong
- When busyness and worldly distraction pile up and cause repeated frustration
- When you resist a hard experience that is actually necessary to make you more genuine