संत साहित्य
Work in progress. Translations and commentary are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or hallucinations — please use your own judgement and check against the original sources.
संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3748 of 4582

Abhanga 3748

Real understanding would end needless suffering, and since the true burden rests on God, asking simply for fearlessness is enough to steady a restless mind.

When you sense that your struggle comes from not yet understanding something important
When you catch yourself carrying a worry or responsibility that was never truly yours
When you wait quietly at a difficult threshold, asking only for the courage to stay steady

The verse

कळों येतें वर्म । तरी न पवतों श्रम ॥१॥ तुम्हां शिरीं होता भार । आम्हां कैचा संचार ॥ध्रु.॥ होतें अभयदान । तरी स्थिर होतें मन ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे पाहें । ऐसी वाट उभा आहे ॥३॥

Literal translation

Kaḷōm yete varma — tarī na pavatōm śrama — if the varma came-known, I would not suffer śrama. Tumhām śirīm hōtā bhāra — āmhām kaichā samchāra — you have the bhāra on head — what samchāra do we have. Hōte abhaya-dāna — tarī sthira hōte mana — if abhaya-dāna came — mana would be steady. Tukā mhaṇe pāhe — aisī vāṭa ubhā āhe — Tukā says: see — (he) stands on such a vāṭa.

What it means

A short 3-verse gentle-petition: the burden's-on-you, the-secret's-with-you, give-abhaya-dāna so-my-mind-stabilizes.

For someone today

Tukaram says that if he truly understood the deeper truth of things, he would not suffer so much needless struggle. He reminds God that the real responsibility rests on God's shoulders, not his own, so what is there for him to anxiously carry or chase after? He asks simply for the gift of fearlessness, saying that if it were given, his mind would finally settle down. He describes himself standing quietly on that path, waiting.

मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की जर आतला खरा मर्म समजला असता, तर इतका विनाकारण त्रास सहन करावा लागला नसता. ते देवाला आठवण करून देतात की खरी जबाबदारी देवाच्याच शिरावर आहे, मग आपण उगाच काय धावाधाव करायची? ते फक्त निर्भयतेचे दान मागतात, कारण ते मिळाले तर मन शेवटी स्थिर होईल. आपण त्या वाटेवर शांतपणे उभे राहून वाट पाहत आहोत, असे ते सांगतात.

Where this applies