Abhanga 3697
When you are truly worn out by a repeating struggle, the honest response is to let go of it fully and stop crawling back to what keeps dragging you down.
The verse
वोखटा तरी मी विटलों देहासी । पुरे आतां जैसी जोडी पुन्हां ॥१॥
किती मरमर सोसावी पुढती । राहिलों संगती विठोबाचे ॥ध्रु.॥
आतां कोण याचा करील आदर । जावो कळिवर विटंबोनि ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आतां सांडि तें चि सांडि । कोण फिरे लंडी यासी मागें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Even-vōkhaṭa-revulsed-deha — enough-same-jōḍī-again. How-much-mara-mara-bear — stayed-Viṭhōbā-sangatī. Who-gives-ādara — let-kaḷivara-be-disgraced. Tukā: abandon-what-must — who-returns-as-laṇḍī.
What it means
A 3-verse vairāgya text. Even if I am low, I'm fed-up with this body — enough of this same yoke; how much dying-and-dying must I bear? — I have stayed in Viṭhōbā's company. Who will give honor to this body now? — let it be disgraced. Abandon what must be abandoned — who would return as a sluggard to this?
For someone today
Tukārām says he is simply worn out with this body and its endless cycle of dying and struggling again, and he has had enough of carrying that same weight over and over. He has chosen instead to stay close to Viṭhōbā, and he no longer cares whether the body is honored or left disgraced, because that is not where his attention is anymore. His conclusion is blunt: let go of what truly needs to be let go of, and do not be the kind of person who keeps crawling back to what is already dragging you down. Sometimes real freedom starts with admitting you are simply done with something.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की या शरीराच्या आणि त्याच्या वारंवार मरण्या-झगडण्याच्या फेऱ्याने ते अगदी थकले आहेत, आणि तेच ते ओझे पुन्हा पुन्हा वागवण्याचा त्यांना कंटाळा आला आहे. त्याऐवजी त्यांनी विठोबाच्या सहवासात राहणे निवडले आहे, आणि आता या शरीराला मान मिळो की अपमान, याची त्यांना फिकीर नाही, कारण त्यांचे लक्ष आता तिकडे नाहीच. त्यांचा निष्कर्ष स्पष्ट आहे, जे खरोखर सोडायचे आहे ते सोडून द्या, आणि जे तुम्हाला खाली खेचत आहे त्याकडे वारंवार परत रांगणारा माणूस बनू नका. कधीकधी खरे स्वातंत्र्य एखाद्या गोष्टीचा पुरता कंटाळा आला आहे हे मान्य करण्यापासून सुरू होते.
Where this applies
- When you feel completely worn out by a cycle of struggle that keeps repeating in your life
- When you stop caring what others think of you because your attention has shifted to something deeper
- When you know it is time to let go of a burden but keep dragging it along out of habit
- When you catch yourself going back to a situation that keeps wearing you down instead of walking away for good