Abhanga 4027
The joy available right here and now outweighs even the most famous pilgrimage sites, so drop hesitation, shame, and social pride, and give yourself to it fully.
The verse
तळि एक अर्ध राई । सीतबुंद पावे काई । तया सुखा नाहीं । अंतपार पाहतां ॥१॥
म्हणउनी करा लाहो । नका मागें पुढें पाहों । अवघ्यामध्यें आहों । सावचित्त तों ॥ध्रु.॥
तीथॉ न येती तुळणी । आजिया सुखाची धणी । जे कासी गयेहुनी । जीं आगळीं असती ॥३॥
येथें धरी लाज । वर्ण अभिमान काज । नाडला सहज । तुका म्हणे तो येथें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Half-mustard-sītabundha-can't-quench. So-this-sukha-no-anta-pāra. Make-haste-don't-look-back-forth-all-sāvachitta. Tīrthas-don't-equal-today's-fullness — Kāśī-Gayā-less. Here-leave-varṇa-abhimāna. Tukā: nāḍalā-sahaja-here.
What it means
A 3-verse Paṇḍharī-pilgrimage-supremacy text. (Like) below half a mustard-seed of cool-drop — what can it do (against great heat)? Just so, this sukha (of Pandhari) has no end-or-edge. So make haste; don't look back-or-forth; all of us be alert here. The tīrthas don't equal the fullness of today's sukha; Kāśī and Gayā and beyond are less. Leave shame here, leave varṇa-pride; the one who is caught here is so naturally. Paṇḍharī-supremacy-over-Kāśī-Gayā — Tukārām's claim that the Vārkarī Ekādaśī-darśana surpasses even the great north-Indian tīrthas. Pair with 2777 (canonical all-tīrthas-at-Pandhari-darśana).
For someone today
Tukaram says small, half measures cannot touch something as vast as real joy, just as a tiny drop of something cool cannot cool down a great heat. The happiness available here has no beginning or end you could ever measure. So do not hold back, do not keep glancing backward or worrying about what comes next: be fully present and alert right now. No famous pilgrimage site, not even Kashi or Gaya, can match the fullness of this joy found today. Leave your shame and your pride in social rank at the door; whoever gets swept up here does so naturally, without effort.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की अर्धवट उपाय अशा प्रचंड आनंदाला स्पर्शही करू शकत नाहीत, जसा एखादा थंड थेंब मोठ्या उष्णतेला थंड करू शकत नाही. इथे मिळणाऱ्या सुखाला कोणतीही सुरुवात किंवा शेवट मोजता येत नाही. म्हणून मागे-पुढे न पाहता, थांबू नका; सगळ्यांनी आत्ता इथे सावचित्त राहावे. कोणतेही प्रसिद्ध तीर्थ, अगदी काशी आणि गया सुद्धा, आजच्या या पूर्णत्वाच्या सुखाशी बरोबरी करू शकत नाही. इथे लाज सोडा, वर्णाचा अभिमान सोडा; जो कोणी इथे ओढला जातो, तो सहजपणेच ओढला जातो.
Where this applies
- When you are holding back from something worthwhile because of social status or what others think
- When you compare a genuine present moment to some far off, more prestigious experience
- When you are hesitating instead of fully giving yourself to something good happening now
- When pride or self-consciousness is keeping you from joining in wholeheartedly