Abhanga 3927
Words and reputation mean nothing to Tukaram without an actual felt closeness to God, and without it he says he cannot stay calm.
The verse
न लगती मज शब्दब्रम्हज्ञान । तुझिया दर्शनावांचूनियां ॥१॥
म्हणऊनि तुझें करितों चिंतन । नावडे वचन आणिकांचें ॥ध्रु.॥
काय ते महत्वी करावी मान्यता । तुज न देखतां पांडुरंगा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तुज दिधल्यावांचूनि । न राहे त्याहूनि होइन वेडा ॥३॥
Literal translation
No-śabda-brahma-jñāna-without-darśana. Therefore-chintana-don't-like-others'-vachana. What-good-mahatvī-mānyatā-without-darśana-Pāṇḍuranga. Tukā: without-you-giving-yourself — won't-stay — will-go-mad.
What it means
A 3-verse darśana-priority text. I don't need word-Brahman-knowledge without your darśana. So I meditate on you — I don't like others' words. What is the use of greatness or acceptance without seeing you, Pāṇḍuranga? Without you giving yourself, I will not stay — I'll go mad. The closing will-go-mad is the bhakta's threat-prayer (compare 2859 naked-dances-in-kathā mad self-description).
For someone today
Tukaram says plainly that he has no need for abstract scriptural knowledge if it doesn't come with an actual encounter with the divine. He would rather keep his mind fixed on God than listen to other people's clever words. What good is being called great or important, he asks, if he never actually sees Pandurang? He ends with a raw admission: without that closeness, he will not stay calm, he will go mad. This is a lesson in valuing direct, felt connection over borrowed knowledge or reputation.
मराठी: तुकाराम स्पष्ट सांगतात की देवाच्या प्रत्यक्ष दर्शनाशिवाय शब्दज्ञान त्यांना नकोच आहे. इतरांचे शहाणपणाचे बोल ऐकण्यापेक्षा ते आपले मन देवावर स्थिर ठेवणे पसंत करतात. पांडुरंगाचे दर्शन कधीच झाले नाही, तर मोठेपणाचा किंवा मान्यतेचा काय उपयोग, असा प्रश्न ते विचारतात. शेवटी ते प्रामाणिकपणे कबूल करतात: ती जवळीक नसेल तर ते शांत राहणार नाहीत, वेडे होतील. यातून उधार घेतलेल्या ज्ञानापेक्षा किंवा प्रतिष्ठेपेक्षा प्रत्यक्ष, अनुभवलेल्या नात्याला महत्त्व देण्याचा धडा मिळतो.
Where this applies
- When you value secondhand knowledge over your own direct, felt experience
- When you're chasing recognition or status instead of genuine connection
- When you notice you're more moved by others' opinions than your own inner experience
- When longing for closeness with the divine feels more urgent than any theory about it