Abhanga 3685
When restlessness and ego keep you from real peace, ask honestly for the grace to be stilled rather than trying to force calm on your own.
The verse
कां जी तुम्हीं ऐसे नव्हा कृपावंत । निवे माझें चित्त ठायिंच्या ठायीं ॥१॥
कांही शम नये विषम अंतरा । शांतीचा तो बरा ऐसा योग ॥ध्रु.॥
दुःखी होतों पंचभूतांच्या विकारें । जडत्वें दातारें राखावीं तीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे मोडा अहंकाराची मान । धरितों चरण म्हणऊनि ॥३॥
Literal translation
Why-not-krpāvanta — chitta-settle-in-place. No-śama-viṣama-antara — śānti-yoga-good. Pañca-bhūta-vikāra-duḥkhī — let-dātā-rākhāvī-by-jaḍatva. Tukā: break-neck-of-ahankāra — grasping-charaṇa.
What it means
A 3-verse petition. Why aren't you kind enough? — let my chitta cool-in-place; no calm comes, the antara is uneven, śānti-yoga is good; I suffer by the modifications of the five elements — let the giver preserve them in inertness; break the neck of ahankāra — I'm grasping your feet.
For someone today
Tukaram asks God plainly, why aren't you kind enough to let my restless mind finally settle and cool right where it is? He admits no real calm has come to him, his inner state stays uneven, even though he knows peace itself is the better path. He says he suffers from the constant churn of the body's elements, the physical restlessness that never seems to hold still, and asks God to steady them. He ends with a direct plea, asking God to break the grip of his own ego, since he is holding on tightly to God's feet and wants nothing left standing in the way.
मराठी: तुकाराम स्पष्टपणे देवाला विचारतात, तू इतका कृपाळू का नाहीस की माझे अस्वस्थ मन जिथल्या तिथे शांत व्हावे? ते कबूल करतात की त्यांना खरी शांती अजून मिळालेली नाही, त्यांची आतली अवस्था असमतोल राहते, जरी त्यांना ठाऊक आहे की शांती हाच खरा मार्ग आहे. ते म्हणतात की शरीराच्या पंचतत्त्वांच्या सततच्या खळबळीने त्यांना दुःख होते, ती अस्वस्थता कधीच शांत होत नाही, आणि देवाला ती स्थिर करण्याची विनंती करतात. शेवटी ते थेट विनंती करतात की देवाने त्यांच्या अहंकाराची मान मोडावी, कारण ते देवाचे पाय घट्ट धरून आहेत आणि मध्ये काहीही उभे राहू नये अशी त्यांची इच्छा आहे.
Where this applies
- When you feel restless inside despite knowing that calm would serve you better
- When your body and emotions feel constantly stirred up and you long for real stillness
- When you honestly ask for help because you can't quiet your own mind by yourself
- When you recognize your own ego is the last real obstacle standing between you and peace