Abhanga 3733
A hard path only looks impossible from a distance; walk it steadily, let go of desperate craving, and remember that God is reached through simple, near remembrance, not distant striving.
The verse
विषम वाटे दुरवरी । चालूनि परती घरी । मागील ते उरी । नाहीं उरली भयाची ॥१॥
मुख्य न व्हावा तो नाड । सेवटाचे हातीं गोड । सरलिया चाड । मग कैचे उद्वेग ॥ध्रु.॥
होता पहिला अभ्यास । समयीं घालावया कास । तेव्हां लटिके दोष । योगें अनुतापाच्या ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आहे । बुद्धी केलियानें साहे । जवळी च पाहें । देव वाट स्मरणाची ॥३॥
Literal translation
Uneven-path-far-walked-back-home — no-bhaya-urī. Mukhya-not-nāḍa-sēvaṭa-hātī-gōḍa — chāḍa-subsides-no-udvēga. Earlier-abhyāsa — samayī-kāsa-prepared — laṭika-dōṣa-by-anutāpa-yoga. Tukā: buddhi-by-doing-bears-up — Deva-vāṭa-of-smaraṇa-nearby.
What it means
A 3-verse practical-wisdom text. The uneven path seems long, but having walked, one returns home; the past leftover-of-fear is gone. The main thing should not be the trap; at the end, what's in hand is sweet; when desire subsides, no agitation. There was earlier practice, to gird the loins at the right occasion; then the false-faults arise by the yoga-of-anutāpa. Tukā: buddhi bears-up by doing; look right-nearby — Deva is the path of smaraṇa.
For someone today
Tukaram observes that a rough path looks impossibly long from a distance, but once you actually walk it, you find yourself safely home, and the fear you carried about it simply disappears. He warns against letting the goal itself become a trap that consumes you, because what really matters is the sweetness waiting at the end, and once the pull of craving eases, there is nothing left to be agitated about. Earlier practice and preparing yourself at the right moment matter too, since honest self-correction dissolves false doubts along the way. Tukaram concludes that steady effort builds the resolve to carry on, and that God, reached through simple remembrance, is never far away at all.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की दुरून पाहिल्यावर खडतर वाट खूप लांब वाटते, पण खरोखर चालून गेल्यावर माणूस सुखरूप घरी पोहोचतो आणि त्याबद्दलची भीती आपोआप नाहीशी होते. ते सावध करतात की ध्येयच स्वतःसाठी सापळा बनू देऊ नये, कारण खरे महत्त्व शेवटी मिळणाऱ्या गोडीला आहे, आणि इच्छेचा ओढा कमी झाला की अस्वस्थता उरतच नाही. योग्य वेळी आधीच केलेला सराव आणि तयारीही महत्त्वाची असते, कारण प्रामाणिक पश्चातापाने खोटे दोष विरघळून जातात. तुकाराम शेवटी म्हणतात की सतत प्रयत्नानेच मन टिकून राहते, आणि नामस्मरणाने गाठता येणारा देव खरे तर अगदी जवळच आहे.
Where this applies
- When a task or goal looks overwhelming from far away but feels manageable once you actually start
- When you realize you've become so fixated on reaching a goal that the goal itself has become a burden
- When you notice that easing your craving for an outcome also eases your restlessness about it
- When you feel God or peace seems distant, but simple, steady remembrance brings it right back close