Abhanga 4011
The body is like wet clay, its once fine features will inevitably sag and slip with age, so use the time before the end comes to turn toward worship now, even a little.
The verse
ओले मातीचा भरवसा । कां रे धरिशी मानसा ॥१॥
डोळे चिरीव चांगले । वृद्धपणीं सरवया जाले ॥ध्रु.॥
नाक सरळ चांगलें । येउन हनवटी लागलें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आलें नाहीं । तंव हरिला भज रे कांहीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Ōlē-mātī-don't-trust. Carved-eyes-misaligned-in-old-age. Straight-nose-bent-to-chin. Tukā: while-end-hasn't-come — worship-Hari-a-bit.
What it means
A 3-verse old-age decay-of-features text. Why trust this wet-clay (body)? The finely-carved eyes have slipped down in old-age. The straight handsome nose has bent down to the chin. While the end has not come, worship Hari a little. Two specific face-features: (1) ḍōḷē-chirīva (the well-carved eyes, like sculptures), now slipping-out-of-position; (2) nāka-saraḷa (the straight nose), now drooping to the chin. The face once-beautiful, now collapsed.
For someone today
Tukaram asks the mind a pointed question, why do you keep trusting this body when it is really just wet clay that will not hold its shape. He points to features that once looked beautifully sculpted, eyes that were finely set, a straight handsome nose, and notes how age has already begun to let them slip and sag. Rather than using this as a reason for despair, he turns it into urgency, since the end has not yet come, this is exactly the time to turn toward worship, even if only a little, instead of waiting.
मराठी: तुकाराम मनाला थेट प्रश्न विचारतात, या शरीरावर तू का विश्वास ठेवतोस, जे खरे तर ओली माती आहे जी आपला आकार टिकवू शकत नाही. ते एकेकाळी सुंदर, कोरीव दिसणाऱ्या वैशिष्ट्यांकडे बोट दाखवतात, नीट बसलेले डोळे, सरळ रुबाबदार नाक, आणि सांगतात की वयाबरोबर ती आधीच ढासळू लागली आहेत. हे निराशेचे कारण न बनवता, ते याला तातडीचे रूप देतात, कारण अजून शेवट आलेला नाही, हीच वेळ आहे भक्तीकडे वळण्याची, थोडी का होईना, वाट न पाहता.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself vain about your looks and need a reminder that they will not last
- When you notice signs of aging in your face or body and feel a jolt of mortality
- When you keep postponing something meaningful, telling yourself there is still time
- When you need a nudge to act now, in whatever small way, rather than waiting for a better moment