संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3508 of 4582

Abhanga 3508

If you commit to someone, honor that trust fully rather than half-heartedly, and never grow weary of lifting up those who need help most.

When you commit to someone and must follow through, even imperfectly.

When you feel you lack real faith yet still choose to show up as a devoted one.

When helping someone in need starts to feel tiring, and you have to push past that reluctance.

The verse

नव्हावा तो बरा मुळीं च संबंध । विश्वासिकां वध बोलिलासे ॥१॥ आतां माझें हित काय तें विचारा । सत्यत्वें दातारा पांडुरंगा ॥ध्रु ॥ नाहीं भाव परी म्हणवितों दास । नका देऊं यास उणेंयेऊं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे कां हो उद्धरितां दीन । मानीतसां सीण मायबापा ॥३॥

Literal translation

Better-no-sambandha-from-root — viśvāsikā-vadha-spoken-of. Consider-my-hita — truly-dātā-Pāṇḍurangā. No-bhāva-but-call-myself-dāsa — don't-let-uṇā. Tukā: why-feel-śīṇa-uplifting-dīna-māyabāpa.

What it means

A 3-verse complaint-petition. Better never to have started this connection — you said one shouldn't slay the trusting; consider my good now; don't let any lack come to one who calls himself dāsa; why does uplifting the destitute feel like fatigue to you?

For someone today

Tukaram protests that if a bond is only going to end in broken trust, it would have been better never to have started it at all, since it was already said that those who trust should not be harmed. So he asks Pandurang, the true giver, to truly consider what is good for him now. He admits he does not always feel real faith inside, yet he still calls himself a devoted servant, and he asks not to be left lacking for that honesty. He ends with a bold question: why does lifting up someone poor and struggling feel so tiring to you, my parent?

मराठी: तुकाराम तक्रार करतात की एखादा नातेसंबंध शेवटी विश्वासघातातच संपणार असेल, तर तो सुरूच न झालेला बरा, कारण विश्वास ठेवणाऱ्याला दुखवू नये असे आधीच सांगितले गेले आहे. म्हणून ते खऱ्या दात्या पांडुरंगाला विनंती करतात की आता खरोखर माझे हित काय ते विचार करा. ते कबूल करतात की त्यांच्या मनात नेहमीच खरी श्रद्धा नसते, तरीही ते स्वतःला भक्त म्हणवतात, आणि या प्रामाणिकपणामुळे त्यांना उणेपणा येऊ नये अशी विनंती करतात. शेवटी ते धीट प्रश्न विचारतात, गरीब आणि झगडणाऱ्याला वर उचलणे तुम्हाला इतके श्रम का वाटते, माझ्या माय-बापा?

Where this applies

When you have made a promise or commitment and are tempted to abandon it halfway
When you feel you lack real faith but still want to be counted among the devoted
When you notice reluctance in yourself about helping someone who is genuinely struggling
When you have to hold someone accountable to a promise of care they once made

Autobiographical Bhakti