Abhanga 3637
Naming your own faults honestly, restlessness, attachment, comfort-seeking, and laziness, is itself the first honest step toward real devotion.
The verse
तुम्ही माझा देवा करिजे अंगीकार । हा नाहीं विचार मजपाशीं ॥१॥
आतां दोहीं पक्षीं लागलें लक्षणें । देवभक्तपण लाजविलें ॥ध्रु.॥
एकांतीं एकलें न राहे निश्चळि । न राहे च पळ मन ठायीं ॥२॥
पायीं महत्वाची पडिली शंकळा । बांधविला गळा स्नेहा हातीं ॥३॥
शरीर सोकलें देखिलिया सुखा । कदान्न हें मुखा मान्य नाहीं ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे जाला अवगुणांचा थारा । वाढली हे निद्रा अळस बहु ॥५॥
Literal translation
You-take-angīkāra — not-in-my-vichāra. Both-sides-lakṣaṇa — deva-bhakta-paṇa-lājavilē. In-ēkānta-not-niśchaḷ — mana-doesn't-stay-paḷa. Śānkaḷā-of-mahatva-on-feet — gaḷa-bound-by-snēha. Body-habituated-to-sukha — kadanna-not-mānya. Tukā: avaguṇa-has-thāra — nidrā-aḷasa-grown-much.
What it means
A 5-verse candid self-confession with 5 concrete-failings: (1) can't stay still in solitude; (2) chain-of-mahatva on feet, throat bound by affection; (3) body-habituated to sukha, can't tolerate kadanna; (4) avaguṇa have taken foothold; (5) nidrā and aḷasa have grown much. Striking line deva-bhakta-paṇa lājavilē (both god-status and bhakta-status are shamed by this).
For someone today
Tukaram asks God to accept him as he is, but confesses that even that request is not fully thought through on his part. He admits both sides of his devotion have been shamed by his own failings: he cannot sit still in solitude, his mind wanders constantly and never settles even for a moment. The chains of his own self-importance still bind his feet, and affectionate attachments still hold his throat. His body has grown used to comfort, so plain, simple food no longer feels acceptable to him. In the end he confesses that his faults have found a comfortable home, and laziness and excess sleep have only grown stronger in him.
मराठी: तुकाराम देवाला विनवतात की त्याने त्यांना जसे आहेत तसे स्वीकारावे, पण कबूल करतात की ही विनंतीदेखील त्यांनी नीट विचार करून केलेली नाही. ते मान्य करतात की त्यांच्या स्वतःच्या दोषांमुळे भक्ती आणि देवत्व दोघांनाही लाज वाटावी अशी अवस्था झाली आहे, एकांतात ते स्थिर बसू शकत नाहीत, मन क्षणभरही एका जागी टिकत नाही. स्वतःच्या मोठेपणाच्या भ्रमाच्या साखळ्या अजूनही त्यांच्या पायात आहेत, आणि मायेचे बंध अजूनही त्यांच्या गळ्याला जखडून आहेत. शरीराला सुखाची सवय झाली आहे, त्यामुळे साधे, कोरडे अन्नही आता आवडत नाही. शेवटी ते कबूल करतात की त्यांच्या दोषांनी घर केले आहे, आणि आळस व झोप वाढतच चालली आहे.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's 5-verse candid-self-confession; deva-bhakta-paṇa-lājavilē; 5-concrete-failings canonical
- Companion to 3507 (svabhāva-uncontrollable)