संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3763 of 4582

Abhanga 3763

People suffer needlessly from constant worry without recognizing its cause, skipping even the simplest remedy because attachment to pleasure keeps their eyes open yet effectively blind.

When you notice a background hum of worry that never seems to have a clear source
When something as simple as a moment of prayer or reflection feels harder than it should
When you realize that despite looking different from others, you share the same underlying blind spot

The verse

किती सोसिती करंटीं । नेणों संसाराची आटी । सर्वकाळ पोटीं । चिंतेची हळहळ ॥१॥ रिकामिया तोंडें राम । काय उच्चारितां श्रम । उफराटा भ्रम । गोवी विषय माजिरा ॥ध्रु.॥ कळतां न कळे । उघडे झाकियेले डोळे । भरलें त्याचे चाळे । अंगीं वारें मायेचें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे जन । ऐसें नांवबुद्धिहीन । बहुरंगें भिन्न । एकीं एक निमलें ॥३॥

Literal translation

Kitī sōsitī karamṭīm — how much do the unlucky-ones endure; neṇom samsārāchī āṭī — not knowing the grinding-suffering of samsāra; sarva-kāḷa pōṭīm chintechī haḷhaḷa — all-time in the heart the hot-anguish of worry. Rikāmiyā tōmḍem Rāma — kāya uchchāritām śrama — with empty mouth (saying) Rāma — what toil to utter?; uphāraṭā bhrama — gōvī viṣaya-mājirā — inverted illusion — the arrogant viṣaya weaves it. Kaḷatām na kaḷe — ughaḍe jhākiyele ḍōḷe — knowing, they don't know; open (yet) covered eyes; bharale tyāche chāḷe — angīm vāre māyeche — filled with its tricks — the māyā-wind in the body. Tukā mhaṇe jana — aise nāmva-buddhi-hīna — Tukā says: such people — the name is mindless; bahurangem bhinna — ekīm eka nimalem — in many colors different, in one all merged.

What it means

A 4-verse anti-māyā polemic. Unlucky-ones-suffer-samsāra-without-knowing-the-grinding; worry-burns-the-heart-all-the-time; empty-mouth-saying-Rāma-is-easy — why-find-it-tiresome?; viṣaya-mājirā weaves-the-inverted-illusion; knowing-they-don't-know — eyes-open-yet-covered — māyā-wind-blows-in-body; people are buddhi-hīna — many-shades-but-one-truth.

For someone today

Tukaram points out how much unlucky people suffer without ever recognizing the grinding wear of worldly life, carrying a hot, constant anguish of worry in their hearts. He notices how strange it is that even saying God's name out loud, something completely free and effortless, feels like too much trouble to some people. This upside-down confusion is woven by an arrogant attachment to sensory pleasures, so that people know and yet do not know, their eyes technically open but effectively covered over. Tukaram calls this a kind of mindlessness, saying people appear different on the surface, in all their many shades, but underneath are caught in the very same illusion.

मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की अभागी लोक संसाराचा पीळ न ओळखता किती सोसतात, मनात सतत काळजीची जळजळ बाळगून. देवाचे नाव उच्चारणे इतके सोपे आणि विनामूल्य असतानाही काही लोकांना ते त्रासदायक वाटते, याचे त्यांना आश्चर्य वाटते. विषयांच्या गर्विष्ठ आसक्तीमुळे ही उलट भ्रांती विणली जाते, त्यामुळे माणसांना कळूनही कळत नाही, डोळे उघडे असूनही ते झाकलेले असतात. तुकाराम याला एक प्रकारची बुद्धिहीनता म्हणतात, बाहेरून लोक वेगवेगळे, अनेक रंगांचे दिसत असले तरी आतून तेच एक भ्रम त्यांना जखडून ठेवतो.

Where this applies

eyes-open-yet-covered