Abhanga 3774
Tukaram asks that the lived experience of true saints actually enter him and change him, because talk without that real experience is fruitless and empty.
The verse
येतील अंतरा शिष्टाचे अनुभव । तळमळी जीव तया सुखा ॥१॥
आतां माझा जीव घेउनियां बळी । बैसवावें वोळी संतांचिये ॥ध्रु.॥
विस्तारिली वाचा फळेंविण वेल । कोरडे चि बोल फोस वांझे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आलों निर्वाणा च वरी । राहों नेदीं उरी नारायणा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Yetīla amtarā śiṣṭāche anubhava — the śiṣṭas' anubhavas will enter the inward; taḷamaḷī jīva tayā sukhā — the jīva burns for that joy. Ātām mājhā jīva gheuniyām baḷī — now, taking my jīva as sacrifice; baisavāvem vōḷī samtāmchiye — seat (me) in the samtas' line. Vistāralī vāchā phaḷemviṇa vela — (my) speech has stretched, a creeper without fruit; kōraḍe chi bōla phōsa vāmjhe — dry words, the chaff of a barren-woman. Tukā mhaṇe ālōm nirvāṇā cha varī — Tukā says: I have come to the very end; rāhōm nedīm urī Nārāyaṇā — don't let anything remain, Nārāyaṇa.
What it means
A 3-verse sant-samgati petition. Anubhavas-of-śiṣṭas enter-the-inward — jīva burns for that joy; take my jīva as baḷi and seat me in the line of samtas; my speech is a fruitless creeper, the chaff of a barren-woman; I have come to nirvāṇa — let nothing remain, Nārāyaṇa. The barren-woman's-chaff image is severe — speech without fruit is reproductively dead.
For someone today
Tukaram longs for the deep, lived experience of the true saints to actually enter him, not just stay as an idea he admires from a distance. He offers his whole life as a sacrifice, asking to be seated among the company of the sants rather than left outside it. He is honest that without that real experience, all his talking is just a creeper that never bears fruit, words as empty as chaff. He says he has come to the very end of himself and asks that nothing of his old self be left standing in the way.
मराठी: तुकारामांना खऱ्या संतांचा जिवंत अनुभव फक्त दुरून कौतुक करण्याची कल्पना न राहता खरोखर आपल्या अंतरंगात यावा असे वाटते. ते आपले संपूर्ण जीवन अर्पण करून संतांच्या रांगेत बसवले जावे अशी विनवणी करतात. ते प्रामाणिकपणे मान्य करतात की तो खरा अनुभव नसेल तर त्यांचे सगळे बोलणे फळ न देणाऱ्या वेलीसारखे, नुसत्या कोरड्या शब्दांचे भूस आहे. ते म्हणतात की आपण अगदी शेवटच्या टोकाला पोहोचलो आहोत आणि जुन्या स्वतःचा काहीही अंश आता उरू नये अशी विनंती करतात.
Where this applies
- When you admire wise or spiritual people from a distance but haven't let their example truly change you
- When you notice you talk a lot about growth or faith but your words haven't produced real results
- When you want to belong to a community of people who live what they believe, not just watch from outside
- When you feel ready to let go of your old self completely to make room for real change