Abhanga 3554
When closeness fades and you can't name the cause, it is honest to ask plainly for the truth rather than guess at only a hint of the surface reason.
The verse
ऐसें कोण पाप बळी । जें जवळी येऊं नेदी ॥१॥
तुम्हां तंव होइल ठावें । नेदावें कां कळों हें ॥ध्रु.॥
कोण जाला अंतराय । कां ते पाय अंतरले ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे निमित्याचा । आला सुच अनुभव ॥३॥
Literal translation
Aise kōṇa pāpa baḷī — what pāpa is so baḷī; je javaḷī yeūm nedī — that doesn't let (me) come near. Tumhām tamva hōīla ṭhāve — (it) must be known to you; nedāve kām kaḷōm he — why don't (you) let (it) be known. Kōṇa jālā antarāya — what antarāya happened; kām te pāya antarale — why have the pāya distanced. Tukā mhaṇe nimityāñcā — Tukā says: of nimitya; ālā sucha anubhava — the sucha has come as anubhava.
What it means
A 3-verse petition. What-pāpa-is-keeping-me-from-you? you-know — why-don't-you-tell-me? The closing: the surface-cause has been-felt-as-experience, but-the-real-cause-is-hidden.
For someone today
Tukaram wonders what wrong of his could possibly be so strong that it keeps him from feeling close to God. He reasons that God must know the real cause, so why not simply reveal it to him? He asks what obstruction has come between them, why the closeness he once felt now feels distant. He admits he only senses a hint of the surface reason through his own experience, while the deeper cause remains hidden from him.
मराठी: तुकाराम विचार करतात की असे कोणते पाप इतके प्रबळ असेल जे मला देवाजवळ जाऊच देत नाही. देवाला खरे कारण नक्कीच माहीत असेल, मग ते मला का सांगत नाहीत, असा प्रश्न ते विचारतात. आपल्यात आणि देवात कोणता अडथळा आला आहे, पूर्वी जाणवणारी जवळीक आता दूर का वाटते, हे ते विचारतात. आपल्याला फक्त वरवरच्या कारणाची पुसटशी जाणीव स्वतःच्या अनुभवातून होते आहे, पण खरे कारण मात्र अजून लपलेलेच आहे, हे ते कबूल करतात.
Where this applies
- When you feel a distance has grown between you and someone or something you care about, but you can't name why
- When you wish someone would just tell you plainly what's wrong instead of leaving you to guess
- When you sense only a vague hint of the real problem and want to understand the deeper cause
- When closeness you once felt has faded and you're searching honestly for what changed