संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3759 of 4582

Abhanga 3759

State your case honestly, then trust the one in authority to make a fair decision, because once a clear resolution comes, there is no need for further anxious talk.

When you have spoken up honestly about a problem and are now waiting for someone else's decision

When you feel tangled in a difficult situation and need a fair resolution rather than more delay

When you find yourself endlessly rehashing an issue that a clear decision would actually put to rest

The verse

आशाबद्ध आम्ही भाकितसों कींव । तत्पर हा जीव कार्यापाशीं ॥१॥ प्रतिउत्तराची पाहातसें वाट । करूनि बोभाट महाद्वारीं ॥ध्रु.॥ आपुल्या उचितें करूनियां ठेवीं । संबंध गोसावी तोडोनियां ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे एक जालिया निवाड । कोण बडबड करी मग ॥३॥

Literal translation

Āśā-baddha āmhī bhākitasom kīmva — hope-bound, we beg (your) pity; tatpara hā jīva kāryāpāśīm — this jīva is eager at the task. Pratiuttarāchī pāhātasem vāṭa — I watch for the path of (your) reply; karūni bōbhāṭa mahā-dvārīm — having made clamor at the great gate. Āpulyā uchite karūniyām ṭhevīm — by your own propriety, settle the matter; sambandha gōsāvī tōḍōniyām — cutting off the (entangling) tie, gōsāvī. Tukā mhaṇe eka jāliyā nivāḍa — Tukā says: once one (clear) decision is made; kōṇa baḍabaḍa karī maga — who then keeps prattling?

What it means

A 3-verse text on petitioner's clamor and patient awaiting of judgment. Hope-bound-begging-pity; jīva-eager-at-task; awaiting-reply having-clamored-at-the-great-gate; settle-by-your-own-propriety cutting-sambandha; one-decision-and-no-more-prattle. The image is of a litigant at the gate of authority.

For someone today

Tukaram compares himself to someone standing at a great gate, bound by hope, pleading for mercy and eager to get on with what needs doing. He has already made his case loudly and clearly, and now he simply watches and waits for a reply. He asks God, as the rightful authority, to settle the matter properly and cut through any tangled attachments involved. His closing point is practical: once a clear decision is finally made, there is no more need for endless anxious talk about it.

मराठी: तुकाराम स्वतःला एका मोठ्या वेशीजवळ उभ्या असलेल्या याचिकाकर्त्याप्रमाणे मानतात, आशेने बांधलेले, दयेची याचना करणारे, आणि पुढील कामासाठी उत्सुक. त्यांनी आधीच आपली बाजू मोठ्याने आणि स्पष्टपणे मांडली आहे, आणि आता ते फक्त उत्तराची वाट पाहत आहेत. योग्य अधिकारी म्हणून देवाने हा प्रश्न व्यवस्थित सोडवावा आणि गुंतागुंतीचे संबंध तोडून टाकावेत अशी ते विनंती करतात. शेवटी त्यांचा व्यवहारी मुद्दा असा आहे की एकदा स्पष्ट निर्णय झाला की, त्याबद्दल सतत काळजीने बडबड करण्याची गरज उरत नाही.

Where this applies

When you have made your case clearly to someone in authority and are now waiting anxiously for their answer
When you feel caught in a tangled situation and need someone to make a fair, final decision
When endless worrying discussion about an unresolved issue is wearing you down
When you realize that once a real decision is made, you can finally stop rehashing it