Abhanga 3971
Suffering is not a reason to forget God; the greatest devotees remembered him most in their hardest trials.
The verse
पहा ते पांडव अखंड वनवासी । परि त्या देवासी आठविती ॥१॥
प्रल्हादासी पिता करितो जाचणी । परि तो स्मरे मनीं नारायण ॥ध्रु.॥
सुदामा ब्राम्हण दरिद्रे पीडिला । नाहीं विसरला पांडुरंग ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तुझा न पडावा विसर । दुःखाचे डोंगर जाले तरी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Pahā te pāṇḍava akhaṇḍa vanavāsī — pari tyā devāsī āṭhavitī — see, the Pāṇḍavas (were) continuously forest-dwellers — but they remembered Deva. Prahlādāsī pitā karitō jāchaṇī — pari tō smarē manīm nārāyaṇa — Prahlāda — father did torture — but he remembered Nārāyaṇa in mind. Sudāmā brāhmaṇa daridre pīḍilā — nāhīm visaralā Pāṇḍuranga — Sudāmā the brāhmaṇa squeezed by poverty — didn't forget Pāṇḍuranga. Tukā mhaṇe tujhā na paḍāvā visara — duḥkhāñce ḍōngara jāle tarī — Tukā says: let your forgetting not befall (me) — even if mountains of duḥkha arise.
What it means
A 3-verse canonical don't-forget-during-suffering with model-bhaktas. Pāṇḍavas-in-forest-remembered, Prahlāda-tortured-remembered, Sudāmā-poor-didn't-forget; let-me-not-forget-even-if-duḥkha-mountains-arise. Companion to canonical bhakti-confidence redemption-lists (2843, 2972).
For someone today
Tukaram lists three examples: the Pandavas lived years in exile in the forest, yet kept remembering God. Prahlada was tortured by his own father, yet kept Narayana in his mind. Sudama the poor brahmin was crushed by poverty, yet never forgot Panduranga. None of them let their hardship become an excuse to stop remembering. Tukaram's own prayer is simple: whatever mountains of suffering come his way, let him never forget. The lesson is that the depth of your trouble is not a reason to let go of your faith; if anything, it is the moment that faith matters most.
मराठी: तुकाराम तीन उदाहरणे देतात: पांडव अनेक वर्षे वनवासात राहिले, तरीही त्यांनी देवाची आठवण ठेवली. प्रल्हादाला त्याच्याच वडिलांनी छळले, तरीही त्याने मनात नारायणाचे स्मरण केले. गरीब सुदामा ब्राह्मण दारिद्र्याने पिचला, तरीही त्याने पांडुरंगाला विसरला नाही. यांपैकी कोणीही आपल्या दुःखाला विसरण्याचे कारण बनवले नाही. तुकारामांची प्रार्थना साधी आहे — दुःखाचे कितीही डोंगर उभे राहिले तरी त्यांनी विसरू नये. शिकवण हीच की संकटाची तीव्रता श्रद्धा सोडण्याचे कारण नाही; उलट तीच खरी वेळ असते जेव्हा श्रद्धा सर्वात जास्त उपयोगी पडते.
Where this applies
- When you are going through a long, exhausting hardship, like the Pandavas' years of exile, and want to give up your practice
- When someone close to you is causing you pain, like Prahlada's own father, and it shakes your faith
- When poverty or lack is wearing you down, like Sudama, and you feel forgotten by God
- When a mountain of troubles piles up and you are tempted to stop praying or remembering altogether