Abhanga 3688
In real love, sincerity matters more than formal honor, and speaking with genuine compassion is itself the way to reach what is divine.
The verse
प्रीतीच्या भांडणा नाहीं शिरपाव । वचनाचे चि भाव निष्टता ॥१॥
जीणें तरी एका जीवें उभयता । पुत्राचिया पिता दुखवे दुःखें ॥ध्रु.॥
काय जाणे तुटों मायेचें लिगाड । विषम तें आड उरों नेणें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे मज करुणा उत्तरें । करितां विश्वंभरे पाविजैल ॥३॥
Literal translation
In-prīti-quarrel-no-śirpāva — bhāva-in-vachana-niṣṭhatā. Living-with-one-jīva-both — father-duḥkhī-by-son's-duḥkha. Who-knows-māyā-ligāḍa-breaks — viṣama-doesn't-come-in-way. Tukā: karuṇā-uttara — Viśvambhar-attained.
What it means
A 3-verse love-quarrel text. In love's quarrel, no formal honor; bhāva is in word's firmness; the father suffers by his son's suffering when they share one life; who knows when the mother-entanglement breaks; (the uneven doesn't get in the way); make me compassion-replies, Viśvambhar is attained.
For someone today
Tukaram says that in a lover's quarrel, there is no need for formal honor or ceremony, what matters is the sincerity behind the words spoken. When two people truly share one life, like a father and son, the father feels his own son's suffering as his own pain. He notes that no one really knows when a bond built on deep attachment will ever break, since real love doesn't let hardship or unevenness get in its way. He ends by asking to be given words of real compassion, saying that through such compassion, God, the sustainer of everything, is truly reached.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की प्रेमाच्या भांडणात औपचारिक मान-सन्मानाची गरज नसते, महत्त्वाचे असते ते बोलण्यामागचे मनापासूनपण. जेव्हा दोघे खरोखर एकाच जिवाने जगतात, जसे बाप आणि मुलगा, तेव्हा मुलाचे दुःख बापालाही स्वतःचेच वाटते. ते सांगतात की मायेच्या घट्ट नात्याचा गोफ केव्हा तुटेल हे कोणालाच ठाऊक नसते, कारण खऱ्या प्रेमाआड कोणतीही अडचण किंवा विषमता येऊ शकत नाही. शेवटी ते विनवतात की मला करुणेचे शब्द द्यावेत, कारण अशा करुणेतूनच विश्वंभर, या सर्वांचा पालनकर्ता, खरोखर गवसतो.
Where this applies
- When you argue with someone you love and realize honesty matters more than saving face
- When you feel a parent's or loved one's pain as if it were happening to you directly
- When you wonder whether a deep bond can survive hardship, and find that real love doesn't break easily
- When you choose to respond to someone with compassion instead of formality or pride