Abhanga 3915
Tukaram surrenders even his desires to God, trusting that God understands his inner life better than he can express it, and finds his peace of mind depends entirely on that trust.
The verse
जेजे कांहीं मज होईल वासना । तेते नारायणा व्हावें तुम्हीं ॥१॥
काय भाव एक निवडूं निराळा । जाणसी तूं कळा अंतरींची ॥ध्रु.॥
तुजविण मज कोण आहे सखा । जें सांगा आणिकां जीवभाव ॥२॥
अवघें पिशुन जालें असे जन । आपपर कोण नाठवे हें ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे तूं चि जीवांचें जीवन । माझें समाधान तुझे हातीं ॥४॥
Literal translation
Whatever-vāsanā — Nārāyaṇa-be-that. No-separate-bhāva — you-know-inner-kalā. No-sakhā-but-you — everyone-piśuna. Tukā: jīvana-of-jīvas — samādhāna-in-your-hands.
What it means
A 4-verse total-Nārāyaṇa-prayer. Whatever desires arise in me — you yourself become those, Nārāyaṇa. What separate state could I pick? — you know the workings of the inner. Without you, who is my friend? To whom to tell the life-state? Everyone has become calumnious; no self-vs-other distinction remains. You alone are the life of lives — my contentment is in your hands. The line jējē vāsanā tētē Nārāyaṇā vhāvē tumhīm (whatever desire arises in me, you yourself become that) is the no-separate-vāsanā doctrine — Lord fulfills-by-becoming.
For someone today
Tukaram surrenders even his own desires to God, saying that whatever he wants, he trusts God to become that very thing for him, because God already understands what's happening inside him better than he can name it himself. He admits he has no true friend apart from God, no one else he can really open his heart to, especially since he sees people around him turning suspicious and quarrelsome, losing any sense of closeness. In the end he rests on one simple trust: God is the very life of every living being, so his own peace of mind depends on God, not on his own efforts.
मराठी: तुकाराम आपल्या इच्छांसुद्धा देवाकडे सोपवतात, म्हणतात की मला जे काही हवे असेल, ते तूच माझ्यासाठी बन असा त्यांचा विश्वास आहे, कारण देवाला त्यांच्या मनातले जितके कळते तितके ते स्वतःही सांगू शकत नाहीत. देवाशिवाय खरा मित्र कोणी नाही, ज्याला मन उघडून सांगावे असे कोणी नाही असे ते कबूल करतात, कारण त्यांच्या आजूबाजूचे लोक संशयी आणि कलहप्रिय बनत चालले आहेत आणि जवळिकीची भावना उरलेली नाही. शेवटी ते एका साध्या विश्वासावर विसावतात, देव हाच प्रत्येक जीवाचे खरे जीवन आहे, म्हणून त्यांचे मनःशांती स्वतःच्या प्रयत्नांवर नाही तर देवावर अवलंबून आहे.
Where this applies
- When you don't even know what you truly want and wish someone wiser could guide your desires
- When you feel you have no one left to confide in because people around you have grown untrustworthy
- When you notice suspicion and gossip replacing real closeness in the people around you
- When your peace of mind depends more on trust in something larger than on controlling everything yourself