Abhanga 3926
Family cannot be fully trusted to accompany you at the very end, so Tukaram holds instead onto God as his one dependable refuge.
The verse
स्त्रिया पुत्र कळत्र हें तंव मायावंत । शेवटींचा अंत नाहीं कोणी ॥१॥
यमाचिये हातीं बांधोनियां देती । भूषणें ही घेती काढूनियां ॥२॥
ऐसिया चोरांचा कैसा हा विश्वास । धरिली तुझी कास तुका म्हणे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Family-māyā-vanta — no-final-companion. Bind-and-deliver-to-Yama — strip-ornaments. Such-thieves-no-viśvāsa — held-your-kāsa-Tukā.
What it means
A 3-verse anti-family-as-final-refuge text. Wives, sons, kindred-women — all filled with illusion; at the end, no one is a companion. They will bind and deliver you to Yama's hand; they will even strip your ornaments from you. How can such thieves be trusted? — I have held onto your waist-cloth, says Tukā. The bind-and-deliver-to-Yama-and-strip-ornaments is a harsh image — family-as-active-betrayer at death (cf. 2955 wife-curses-dying-husband).
For someone today
Tukaram delivers a hard truth here: wife, children, and kin are woven through with illusion, and at the very end none of them can truly walk with you. He paints a harsh picture of them handing you over, even stripping your ornaments, when death comes for you. Since such companions cannot be fully trusted, Tukaram says he holds instead onto God, gripping the hem of the Lord's garment as his one dependable support. The point is not to abandon family, but to see clearly that ultimate refuge lies elsewhere.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे एक कठोर सत्य मांडतात: पत्नी, मुले आणि नातेवाईक मायेने भरलेले असतात, आणि शेवटच्या क्षणी त्यांच्यापैकी कोणीही खरोखर सोबत राहत नाही. मृत्यू येतो तेव्हा ते आपल्याला सोडून देतात, इतकेच नव्हे तर दागिनेही काढून घेतात, असे कठोर चित्र ते रंगवतात. असे साथीदार पूर्णपणे विश्वासार्ह नसल्यामुळे, तुकाराम म्हणतात की ते देवाला धरून ठेवतात, त्याच्या वस्त्राचा पदर हाच आपला एकमेव भरवशाचा आधार मानतात. यातून कुटुंब सोडण्याचा संदेश नाही, तर अंतिम आश्रय कुठे आहे हे स्पष्टपणे ओळखण्याचा संदेश आहे.
Where this applies
- When you're placing your entire sense of security in family relationships alone
- When you're grieving the discovery that people you trusted let you down at a hard moment
- When you need a reminder that some form of refuge has to be independent of other people
- When you're thinking about what really stays with you at the end of life