Abhanga 3684
When outer life feels like a tangled, hostile mess, the way through is not to fight it directly but to settle into the root of your own mind.
The verse
कोणाचें चिंतन करूं ऐशा काळें । पायांचिया बळें कंठीतसें ॥१॥
पाहातसें वाट येई गा विठ्ठला । मज कां हा केला परदेश ॥ध्रु.॥
बहुतांचे सत्ते जालों कासावीस । जाय रात्री दिस वैरियांचा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे बैसें मनाचिये मुळीं । तरीं च ही जाळीं उगवतीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Whose-chintana-at-such-kāḷa — by-pāya-baḷa-finishing. Watching-vāṭa-come-Viṭhṭhalā — why-paradeśa-made-me. Many's-sattā-kāsāvīsa — rātrī-disa-pass-of-vairī. Tukā: settle-into-mana-mūḷa — only-then-jāḷa-untangles.
What it means
A 3-verse paradeśa-petition. Whose chintana at such a time? — barely surviving by your feet's strength; come Viṭhṭhal — why made me a foreigner? Many's authority has disturbed me; night and day under enemies; settle into the mana's root — only then this net untangles.
For someone today
Tukaram describes a hard stretch of time, wondering whose support he can even lean on, barely getting through by holding on to God's feet. He watches the road, calling out for Vitthal to come, and asks why he has been made to feel like a foreigner, out of place in his own life. He feels disturbed under the pressure of many other people's authority, living night and day as if surrounded by enemies. His conclusion is not to fight the outer chaos directly, but to settle into the very root of his own mind, since only from there can the tangled mess finally come undone.
मराठी: तुकाराम एका कठीण काळाचे वर्णन करतात, कोणाचा आधार घ्यावा हा प्रश्न पडतो, आणि केवळ देवाच्या पायांच्या बळावर कसाबसा काळ काढत आहेत. ते वाट पाहतात, विठ्ठलाला येण्याची हाक देतात, आणि विचारतात आपल्याच आयुष्यात परका, परदेशी का वाटावे लागते. अनेकांच्या सत्तेखाली त्रस्त होऊन, रात्रंदिवस जणू शत्रूंच्या वेढ्यात आयुष्य जात आहे असे त्यांना वाटते. त्यांचा निष्कर्ष असा आहे की बाहेरच्या गोंधळाशी थेट झुंज न देता, स्वतःच्या मनाच्या मुळाशी स्थिर व्हावे, कारण तिथूनच हा गुंता खरोखर सुटू शकतो.
Where this applies
- When you feel out of place or like a stranger even in your own familiar life
- When you're worn down by other people's control over your days and nights
- When you keep watching and waiting for relief that hasn't arrived yet
- When you realize the way out of chaos is to settle your own mind rather than fight every outer battle