Abhanga 3601
When endless activity, even good deeds, brings no real peace, resting quietly in remembrance of the divine is the one thing that is truly good.
The verse
पढीयंतें मागा पांडुरंगापाशीं । मज दुर्बळासी काय पीडा ॥१॥
या चि साटीं दुराविला संवसार । वाढे हे अपार माया तृष्णा ॥ध्रु.॥
कांहीं करितां कोठें नव्हें समाधान । विचारितां पुण्य तें चि पाप ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आतां निश्चळि चि भलें । तुज आठविलें पांडुरंगा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Ask-well-read-near-Pāṇḍuranga — my-durbaḷa-pīḍa. Distanced-samsāra — māyā-trṣṇā-grows-apāra. Anything-done — no-samādhāna — puṇya-on-examination-pāpa. Tukā: niśchaḷa-alone-bhalē — remembered-you-Pāṇḍurangā.
What it means
A striking 3-verse realization-text. On examination, puṇya itself is pāpa — only stillness is good. Even after distancing samsāra, māyā-trṣṇā grows boundless; activity gives no satisfaction. The conclusion: niśchaḷa alone is bhalē.
For someone today
Tukārām admits here how tiring endless activity has become for someone like him, weak and worn out by trying so hard. Even after pulling away from ordinary worldly life, he finds that craving and attachment only keep growing without limit, no matter what he does. He notices that no action ever brings him real peace, and when he examines even his good deeds closely, he sees that they too can carry the taint of selfishness. So he comes to a simple conclusion: real stillness, just resting in the memory of the divine, is the one thing that is genuinely good.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे मान्य करतात की सतत काहीतरी करत राहणं त्यांच्यासारख्या दुर्बळ, थकलेल्या माणसाला किती त्रासदायक झालं आहे. संसारापासून दूर गेल्यावरही, मायेची आणि तृष्णेची भूक कशानेही थांबत नाही, ती फक्त वाढतच राहते. कोणतीही कृती त्यांना खरी शांती देत नाही असं त्यांना जाणवतं, आणि आपल्या पुण्यकर्मांचंही बारकाईने परीक्षण केलं तर त्यातही स्वार्थाचा वास येतो हे त्यांच्या लक्षात येतं. म्हणून ते साध्या निष्कर्षाला पोहोचतात, खरी स्थिरता, फक्त देवाच्या स्मरणात शांत राहणं, हीच खरी चांगली गोष्ट आहे.
Where this applies
- When you keep striving and doing but never quite find the peace you're chasing
- When distancing yourself from worldly busyness doesn't actually calm the craving inside you
- When you examine your own good deeds honestly and notice hidden selfishness in them
- When you're exhausted from constant effort and realize that simply resting in remembrance might be enough