Abhanga 3777
When your mind grows restless despite sincere effort, Tukaram turns the question back to God as the true driver of the mind, since he knows no other way but honest surrender.
The verse
निश्चितीनें होतों करुनियां सेवा । कां जी मन देवा उद्वेगिलें ॥१॥
अनंत उठती चित्ताचे तरंग । करावा हा त्याग वाटतसे ॥ध्रु.॥
कोण तुम्हांविण मनाचा चाळक । दुजें सांगा एक नारायणा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे माझा मांडिला विनोद । करऊं नेणें छंद कराल काइ ॥३॥
Literal translation
Niśchitīnem hōtōm karuniyām sevā — with certitude I was doing sevā; kām jī mana devā udvēgile — why has the mana become agitated, Deva?. Ananta uṭhatī chittāche taranga — endless waves rise in chitta; karāvā hā tyāga vāṭatase — they feel fit to be renounced. Kōṇa tumhāmviṇa manāchā chāḷaka — who is the mana's driver except you?; duje sāngā eka Nārāyaṇā — name one other, Nārāyaṇa. Tukā mhaṇe mājhā māmḍilā vinōda — Tukā says: my play is set up; karaūm neṇe chhanda karāla kāi — I don't know other styles — what will you do?.
What it means
A 3-verse leverage-petition shifting blame for mental agitation back to the Lord. I-was-doing-sevā-with-certitude — why-has-the-mana-become-agitated?; endless-waves-rise-in-chitta-fit-to-renounce; who-is-mana's-driver-but-you?; my-play-(life-art)-is-set-up — I-don't-know-other-styles — what-will-you-do? The closing dares the Lord to act.
For someone today
Tukaram says he was doing his service with a settled, confident heart, so why has his mind suddenly grown restless and agitated? Endless waves keep rising in his thoughts, and it feels like they need to be let go of rather than fought one by one. He turns the question back to God directly: who else is really driving the mind if not you, so name one other cause if you can. He is honest that he only knows one simple way of being, this is his whole game, and he is essentially daring God to respond, since the mind's turmoil is not really his to fix alone.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की ते पूर्ण निश्चयाने सेवा करत होते, मग अचानक मन इतके अस्वस्थ आणि व्यग्र का झाले? मनात सतत असंख्य लाटा उठत राहतात आणि त्या एकेक करून लढण्याऐवजी सोडून द्याव्याशा वाटतात. ते हा प्रश्न थेट देवाकडे वळवतात: तुझ्याशिवाय मनाचा चालक कोण आहे, दुसरे एखादे कारण असेल तर सांग. ते प्रामाणिकपणे मान्य करतात की त्यांना फक्त एकच साधा मार्ग माहीत आहे, हाच त्यांचा सगळा खेळ आहे, आणि जणू ते देवालाच आव्हान देत आहेत की मनाची ही उलथापालथ खरे तर त्यांच्या एकट्याच्या हातात नाही, त्यामुळे आता तूच काहीतरी कर.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's who-is-mana's-driver-but-you canonical leverage
- Companion to udvēga is the additional-duḥkha (2867) equanimity-petition