Abhanga 3516
Nothing outside you truly blocks your closeness to what you love; your own habits made the distance, so keep calling out anyway.
The verse
आम्ही म्हणों कोणी नाहीं तुज आड । दिसतोसी भ्याड पांडुरंगा ॥१॥
हागे माझ्या भोगें केलासी परता । विश्वंभरीं सत्ता नाहीं ऐसी ॥ध्रु.॥
आम्ही तुज असों देऊनि आधार । नाम वारंवार उच्चारितों ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे मज धरियेलें बळें । पंचभूतीं खळें करूनियां ॥३॥
Literal translation
We-say-no-one-blocks — you-appear-bhyāḍa-Pāṇḍurangā. By-my-bhōga-you-stayed-separate — Viśvambhar-no-such-sattā. We-give-you-ādhāra — uttering-Nāma-vāra-vāra. Tukā: forcibly-held — pañca-bhūta-khaḷa-made.
What it means
A 3-verse playful-complaint. No one is blocking you, yet you appear cowardly; you've kept yourself away by my bhōga; we support you with the Name we keep uttering; I've been forcibly held in the threshing-floor of the five-elements.
For someone today
Tukaram tells Panduranga that nothing is actually blocking their closeness, yet God still seems to keep a cowardly distance. He admits the real cause is his own appetite for worldly pleasure and pain, not any decision on God's part to stay away. Even so, he keeps offering support by repeating the Name again and again, and even while he feels forcibly gripped by the body and the five elements, he does not stop. The lesson: the distance you feel from what matters most is usually something you created yourself, so keep reaching out through practice even when you feel stuck.
मराठी: देवा आणि आपल्यामध्ये खरे तर कोणताच अडथळा नाही, तरी देव भित्र्यासारखा दूर राहतो असे तुकाराम म्हणतात. पण हे अंतर देवाने निर्माण केलेले नसून आपल्याच भोगवृत्तीमुळे झालेले आहे, हे ते मान्य करतात. म्हणून ते सतत नामस्मरण करत देवाला आधार देत राहतात. शरीर आणि पंचभूतांच्या बंधनात अडकले असले तरी ते नाम घेणे सोडत नाहीत, कारण आपणच निर्माण केलेले अंतर आपणच प्रयत्नाने कमी करू शकतो, हाच या अभंगाचा धडा आहे.
Where this applies
- When you feel far from your own values but realize nothing outside you is actually stopping your return
- When old habits or pleasures have quietly pulled you away from someone or something you care about
- When you feel trapped by your body, health, or daily obligations and want relief
- When you keep up a practice or prayer without seeing quick results but sense it still matters