Abhanga 3787
Tukaram trusts God as his true shelter and stops worrying about critics who dismiss him, trusting divine judgment over the harsh opinions of the stubborn.
The verse
तूं माझा कोंवसा । परी न कळे या धसां ॥१॥
कूट खाती मागें पुढें । जाती नरयेगांवा पुढें ॥ध्रु.॥
माझी म्हणती कवी । निषेधुनि पापी जीवीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे पांडुरंगा । आतां कोण लेखी जगा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tūm mājhā kōmvasā — you are my shelter; parī na kaḷe yā dhasām — but the stubborn don't know this. Kūṭa khātī māgem puḍhem — they eat rubbish back-and-forth; jātī narayegāmvā puḍhem — they go ahead into the village-of-naraka. Mājhī mhaṇatī kavī — they call me (mere) poet; niṣedhuni pāpī jīvīm — condemning, with sinful life. Tukā mhaṇe Pāṇḍurangā — Tukā says: Pāṇḍurangā; ātām kōṇa lekhī jagā — now, who takes account of the world?
What it means
A 3-verse defiance-of-critics. You-are-my-shelter — the-stubborn-don't-see; they-eat-rubbish-and-go-to-naraka-village; they-dismiss-me-as-mere-kavī, condemn-me-with-sinful-life; Pāṇḍurangā — who-now-cares-about-the-world? The line kūṭa khātī — they consume kūṭa (chaff, refuse, gossip-fodder) — is biting.
For someone today
Tukaram declares that Pandurang is his true shelter, but the stubborn people around him simply do not see or understand that. Instead they keep chewing over gossip and empty talk, walking themselves straight toward ruin. They dismiss him as just a poet, judging him harshly with their own sinful outlook, but he does not let that shake him. He turns to Pandurang and asks who else, if not you, is really keeping account of what happens in this world, meaning he stops worrying about his critics and rests his trust in God's judgment instead of theirs.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की पांडुरंगच त्यांचा खरा आश्रय आहे, पण त्यांच्या आजूबाजूचे हट्टी लोक हे समजून घेत नाहीत. त्याऐवजी ते फक्त गप्पा आणि पोकळ बडबड करत राहतात आणि स्वतःच स्वतःला नाशाकडे नेतात. ते तुकारामांना नुसता कवी म्हणून हिणवतात, स्वतःच्याच पापी दृष्टिकोनातून त्यांना दोष देतात, पण त्यामुळे तुकाराम विचलित होत नाहीत. ते पांडुरंगाकडे वळून विचारतात की तुझ्याशिवाय आता या जगाचा हिशोब कोण ठेवणार, म्हणजेच ते टीकाकारांची काळजी सोडून देवाच्या न्यायावरच विश्वास ठेवतात.
Where this applies
- When people close-minded to your truth dismiss what you know deep down is real
- When gossip and empty talk surround you and you have to decide not to join in
- When critics judge you harshly using their own flawed standards rather than fairness
- When you stop worrying about who approves of you and trust a higher judgment instead