Abhanga 3530
First-clear-road — then-no-gōvī.
The verse
आधीं सोज्वळ करावा मारग । चालतां तें मग गोवी नाहीं ॥१॥
ऐसा चालोनियां आला शिष्टाचार । गोवीचा वेव्हार पापपुण्य ॥ध्रु.॥
पळणें तों पळा सांडुनि कांबळें । उपाधीच्या मुळें लाग पावे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे येथें शूर तो निवडे । पडिले बापुडे कालचक्रीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
First-clear-road — then-no-gōvī. Śiṣṭāchāra-says — gōvī-vēvhāra-is-pāpa-puṇya. Flee-abandoning-kāmbaḷā — upādhi-mūḷa-catches. Tukā: śūra-sorted — bāpuḍē-in-kāla-chakra.
What it means
★ A 3-verse vairāgya-counsel. Clear the road first; entangled-transactions are pāpa-puṇya; if you must flee, flee leaving the blanket — even a blanket (a small possession) can become the root of clinging; the brave are sorted out, the pitiful fall into the wheel-of-time. The kāmbaḷa (blanket) is a memorable image of the smallest-possession that still binds.
For someone today
Tukārām: if-you-must-flee, flee-leaving-the-blanket.
Where this applies
- ★ Tukārām's clear-road; flee-abandoning-kāmbaḷa; śūra-vs-bāpuḍē canonical-vairāgya
- kāmbaḷa (blanket) as smallest-possession-image