Abhanga 4000
Stop chasing pointless distractions and instead turn with joy to stories of the divine, trusting from real experience that this protects and carries you through.
The verse
आणीक नका करूं चेष्टा । व्हाल कष्टा वरपडी ॥१॥
सुखें करा हरिकथा । सर्वथा हे तारील ॥ध्रु.॥
अनाथाचा नाथ देव । अनुभव सत्य हा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे बहुतां रिती । धरा चित्तीं सकळ ॥३॥
Literal translation
Don't-do-other-chēṣṭā — fall-into-kaṣṭa. Sukhe-Hari-kathā — saves. Anāthāchā-Nātha — anubhava-true. Tukā: many-rītis — hold-chitti-all.
What it means
A 3-verse Hari-kathā-recommendation. Don't engage in fruitless activity — you'll only fall into hardship. Do Hari-kathā with joy — it will save you completely. Deva is the Lord-of-the-orphan; this is anubhava — truth. By many ways (this can be approached) — hold all in your heart. The anubhava-satya qualifier — Tukārām testifying that this is his own-experience.
For someone today
Tukaram warns against chasing after distractions and pointless activity, because that path only leads to hardship. Instead, tell and listen to stories of the divine with joy, he says, because that alone will carry you through completely. He calls the divine the protector of the orphan, the one who cares for whoever has no one else, and he insists this is not just a nice idea but something he has actually experienced as true. There are many paths toward this, he adds, but whichever you choose, hold it fully in your heart.
मराठी: तुकाराम व्यर्थ उचापती आणि विचलित करणाऱ्या गोष्टींपासून सावध करतात, कारण त्या वाटेने फक्त कष्टच वाट्याला येतात. त्याऐवजी, आनंदाने हरिकथा करा, ऐका आणि सांगा, असे ते म्हणतात, कारण तेच तुम्हाला पूर्णपणे तारून नेईल. ते परमेश्वराला अनाथांचा नाथ म्हणतात, ज्याला कोणी नाही त्याची काळजी घेणारा, आणि हे केवळ छान कल्पना नसून स्वतःच्या अनुभवाने सत्य असल्याचे ते ठामपणे सांगतात. याकडे जाण्याचे अनेक मार्ग आहेत, ते सांगतात, पण जो निवडाल तो मनापासून, पूर्ण हृदयाने धरा.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's don't-do-other-chēṣṭā; sukhē-Hari-kathā canonical
- anubhava-satya testimony-qualifier