Abhanga 3762
Even after crossing mountains of sorrow, hold onto the one place your soul truly belongs, even when its absence makes hardship feel heavier and hope feels slow to return.
The verse
आलों उल्लंघुनि दुःखाचे पर्वत । पायांपाशीं हित तुमच्या तरी ॥१॥
न देखेल लासा दुःखी होतें मन । कठिणें कठिण वाटतसे ॥ध्रु.॥
नव्हे सांडी परि वाटतें निरास । न ये माझा दिस संकल्पाचा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तुम्हीं सदैव जी देवा । माझ्या हा चि जीवा एक ठाव ॥३॥
Literal translation
Ālōm ullanghuni duḥkhāche parvata — I have come, crossing the mountains of duḥkha; pāyāmpāśīm hita tumache tarī — only at your feet (is my) hita. Na dekhelā lāsā duḥkhī hōtem mana — not seeing (you), my mind grows saddened; kaṭhiṇem kaṭhiṇa vāṭatase — the hard feels harder still. Navhe sāmḍī pari vāṭate nirāsa — not abandonment, yet it feels like no-hope; na ye mājhā disa samkalpāchā — my day of resolve does not come. Tukā mhaṇe tumhīm sadaiva jī devā — Tukā says: you are eternal, Deva; mājhyā hā chi jīvā eka ṭhāva — for my jīva, this alone is the one place.
What it means
A 3-verse longing-petition. Crossed-mountains-of-duḥkha to-reach-your-feet; not-seeing-you-mind-saddens; hard-feels-harder; not-formal-abandonment-but-feels-like-no-hope; my-day-of-resolve-doesn't-come; you-are-eternal — my-jīva has-only-this-one-ṭhāva.
For someone today
Tukaram says he has crossed whole mountains of sorrow just to reach this point, because true wellbeing is found only at God's feet. When he cannot sense God's presence, his mind grows sad, and hardship that was already difficult feels even harder to bear. He is careful to say this is not real abandonment, though it feels like hopelessness in the moment, and the day when his resolve returns has not yet come. Even so, he holds onto the truth that God is eternal, and that for his own soul, there is truly only this one place to belong.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की येथवर पोहोचण्यासाठी दुःखाचे डोंगर ओलांडून आले आहेत, कारण खरे हित फक्त देवाच्या चरणांशीच आहे. देवाची जाणीव न झाल्यास मन दुःखी होते आणि आधीच कठीण असलेले अजून कठीण वाटू लागते. हा त्याग नाही, तरी क्षणभर निराशेसारखे वाटते, आणि पुन्हा संकल्प जागा होण्याचा दिवस अजून आलेला नाही, असे ते स्पष्ट करतात. तरीही देव शाश्वत आहे आणि आपल्या जीवाला खरोखर हेच एकमेव ठिकाण आहे, यावर त्यांचा विश्वास टिकून आहे.
Where this applies
- When you have endured a great deal of hardship just to reach a point of connection with something you love
- When the absence of someone or something you rely on makes an already hard time feel even harder
- When you feel discouraged but know deep down it is not the same as being truly abandoned
- When you are waiting for your own resolve or motivation to return after a difficult stretch