Abhanga 3530
Clear your path and let go completely, since even the smallest possession you keep behind can become the root that pulls you back.
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
Tukaram counsels that you should first clear the road ahead before you start walking it, because once you're actually moving, entanglement becomes far harder to avoid. He notes that everyday convention treats such entanglements as though they were simple matters of merit and sin, small transactions to be weighed. If you must flee from worldly attachment, he says, flee completely, leaving even the blanket behind, because even a small possession like a blanket can become the root that pulls you back into clinging. He ends by observing that here the truly brave reveal themselves, while the timid and pitiable simply fall into the relentless wheel of time.
मराठी: आधी वाट मोकळी करावी, मग चालताना कसलीच अडचण येत नाही, असे तुकाराम सांगतात. असा रीतीरिवाज रूढ झाला आहे, की या गुंत्याचा व्यवहार म्हणजेच पापपुण्य मानला जातो. पळायचेच असेल तर कांबळेही मागे टाकून पळावे, कारण उपाधीच्या मुळापायीच माणूस पुन्हा अडकतो, असे ते सांगतात. शेवटी तुकाराम म्हणतात, इथेच खरा शूर कोण हे ठरते, आणि भित्रे-बापुडे मात्र काळाच्या चक्रात अडकून पडतात.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's clear-road; flee-abandoning-kāmbaḷa; śūra-vs-bāpuḍē canonical-vairāgya
- kāmbaḷa (blanket) as smallest-possession-image