Abhanga 3505
What feels urgent and heavy is often illusion, and what is truly close and real can be made to seem far away by a mirage of worldly concerns.
The verse
पाठीलागा काळ येतसे या लागें । मी माझें वाउगें मेंढीऐसें ॥१॥
आतां अगी लागो ऐसिया वेव्हारा । तूं माझा सोइरा पांडुरंगा ॥ध्रु.॥
वागविला माथां नसतां चि भार । नव्हे तें साचार जाणील तों ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे केलें जवळील दुरी । मृगजळ वरी आड आलें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Kāḷa-chases-me — I-and-mine-wandering-like-mēṇḍhī. Let-fire-burn-vyavahāra — you-my-sōyarā-Pāṇḍurangā. Bore-bhāra-when-none-real — who-knows-sāchāra-sees. Tukā: near-made-far — mrgajaḷa-came-in-the-way.
What it means
A striking 3-verse text. Death chases me, my wandering-self is like a sheep; let the worldly-business burn — you are my kinsman; I carried a load that didn't exist; he made the near far by the mirage-water. The mēṇḍhī-aisē (sheep-like) is unusually self-deprecating; javaḷī-durī by mrgajaḷa is a striking image.
For someone today
Tukaram admits that death is chasing after him, and his sense of self and possessions has been wandering aimlessly, like a stray sheep. He wants this whole tangle of worldly dealing to burn away, because Pandurang alone is his true kin. He realizes he had been carrying a heavy load on his head that was never even real, something only someone who truly sees the truth can recognize. And he says that what was actually close was made to seem far away, because a mirage got in the way.
मराठी: तुकाराम कबूल करतात की मृत्यू त्यांच्या मागे लागला आहे, आणि 'मी' व 'माझे' ही भावना हरवलेल्या मेंढराप्रमाणे भरकटत राहिली आहे. या सगळ्या सांसारिक व्यवहाराची राख व्हावी असे त्यांना वाटते, कारण पांडुरंगच त्यांचे खरे सोयरे आहेत. त्यांच्या लक्षात येते की ते डोक्यावर एक ओझे वाहत होते जे प्रत्यक्षात कधी अस्तित्वातच नव्हते, हे फक्त खरे जाणणाराच ओळखू शकतो. आणि जे खरोखर जवळ होते तेच मृगजळामुळे दूरचे वाटू लागले, असे ते सांगतात.
Where this applies
- When you feel chased by the sense that time is running out and you lose your footing
- When you realize you have been carrying a burden that was never actually real
- When something that truly matters feels far away, though it was always close by
- When illusion or distraction comes between you and something genuinely near and true