Abhanga 3716
Faithful service should not be endlessly tested; sincere longing for closeness with the divine is itself what earns true honor.
The verse
समर्थाचे सेवे कोठें नाहीं घात । पाहों नये अंत पांडुरंगा ॥१॥
आहे तैसी नीत विचारावी बरी । येऊनी भीतरी वास करा ॥ध्रु.॥
निढळ राखिलें तरी भयाभीत । हर्षामर्ष चित्त पावतसे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तरी कळेल निवाड । दर्शनाची चाड शुभकीर्ति ॥३॥
Literal translation
In-samartha's-sēvā-no-ghāta — don't-test-anta-Pāṇḍurangā. Consider-nīta-as-is — come-inside-dwell. Keeping-niḍhaḷa-bhayā-bhīta — chitta-by-harṣa-amarṣa. Tukā: nivāḍa-known — chāḍa-darśana-śubha-kīrti.
What it means
A 3-verse don't-test-the-bhakta petition. In the all-capable one's service, nowhere is there destruction; don't test my limit, Pāṇḍuranga; consider the justice; come and dwell within; when you keep me forehead-on-the-line, my chitta moves with joy-and-anger; then the verdict will be known — the desire for darśana is good-kīrti.
For someone today
Tukārām says that serving someone truly capable and trustworthy never actually leads to ruin, so he asks God directly not to keep testing him to his very limit. Instead of more testing, he asks for fairness to be considered honestly, and for God to simply come and dwell close within him. When he is pushed to the edge again and again, his heart swings between fear and hope, joy and frustration, worn thin by the strain. He says the real truth will show itself once that stops, and that the sincere longing to see and feel God's presence is itself what carries a good name.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की खरोखर सामर्थ्यवान आणि विश्वासू व्यक्तीची सेवा केल्याने कधीच नाश होत नाही, म्हणून ते देवाला थेट विनवतात की त्यांची परीक्षा त्यांच्या मर्यादेपर्यंत घेत राहू नये. अधिक परीक्षा घेण्याऐवजी, ते विनवतात की न्याय्यतेचा प्रामाणिकपणे विचार व्हावा, आणि देवाने फक्त येऊन त्यांच्या आत जवळ वास करावा. जेव्हा त्यांना पुन्हा पुन्हा कड्यावर ढकलले जाते, तेव्हा त्यांचे मन भीती आणि आशा, आनंद आणि निराशा यांच्यात हेलकावे खाते, ताणाने थकून जाते. ते म्हणतात की हे थांबल्यावरच खरे सत्य समोर येईल, आणि देवाचे दर्शन घेण्याची प्रामाणिक ओढ हीच खरी चांगली कीर्ती मिळवून देते.
Where this applies
- When you serve someone faithfully and hope they will trust that faithfulness instead of testing you again and again
- When you feel worn thin swinging between hope and fear because you keep being pushed to your limit
- When you ask for honesty and fairness instead of more trials before someone will finally draw close to you
- When your sincere longing to feel someone's presence again is itself the thing that speaks well of you