Abhanga 4035
Suffering comes from your own accumulated past actions, not from God's cruelty, so instead of blaming God, ask your own mind what it has done.
The verse
पापांचीं संचितें देहासी दंडण । तुज नारायणा बोल नाहीं ॥१॥
पेरी कडू जिरें मागे अमृतफळ । आकाऩ वृक्षफळें कैसीं येती ॥ध्रु.॥
सुख अथवा दुःख भोग हो देहेचा । नास हा ज्ञानाचा न करावा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आतां देवा कां रुसावें । मनासी पुसावें काय केलें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Sanchita-pāpa-deha-daṇḍana — no-blame-Nārāyaṇa. Sow-bitter-expect-amrta — sky-trees-can't-bear. Sukha-duḥkha-deha-bhōga — don't-destroy-jñāna. Tukā: don't-be-cross — ask-mana.
What it means
A 3-verse responsibility-doctrine. Sanchita-pāpa imposes deha-daṇḍana (body-punishment) — no blame on you, Nārāyaṇa. Sowing bitter-cumin, you want immortal-fruit? — how can sky-trees bear fruit? Let sukha-or-duḥkha be the body's enjoyment; don't destroy your jñāna by it. Don't be cross with Deva; ask the mana what it has done. The structural argument: (a) sanchita-pāpa = deha-daṇḍana, not-Deva's-fault; (b) sowing-bitter-expects-bitter (cause-effect); (c) don't let sukha-duḥkha destroy jñāna; (d) blame your own mana. Pair with 4007 (pāpī-blames-Bhagavanta).
For someone today
Tukaram says that whatever suffering the body endures comes from accumulated past wrongdoing, so it is unfair to put the blame on God. He compares it to planting bitter seeds and then expecting sweet, life-giving fruit, or expecting fruit to grow on trees that only exist in the sky: it simply does not work that way, cause matches effect. He says let pleasure and pain be the body's own experience to go through, but do not let that experience destroy your deeper understanding. In the end, instead of getting angry at God, Tukaram says to ask your own mind what it has actually done to bring this about.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की शरीराला जे काही दुःख भोगावे लागते, ते मागच्या जन्मांच्या साठलेल्या पापांचे फळ असते, त्यामुळे त्यासाठी देवाला दोष देणे योग्य नाही. ते याची तुलना कडू बी पेरून गोड, अमृतासारखे फळ मागण्याशी करतात, किंवा आकाशातल्या झाडांना फळ येण्याची अपेक्षा करण्याशी, हे तसे घडतच नाही, कारण-कार्य जुळलेले असते. ते म्हणतात, सुख किंवा दुःख हा शरीराचा भोग असू द्या, पण त्यामुळे आपले ज्ञान नष्ट होऊ देऊ नका. शेवटी, देवावर रागावण्याऐवजी, तुकाराम सांगतात की स्वतःच्या मनाला विचारा की त्याने खरोखर काय केले आहे.
Where this applies
- When something painful happens and you are tempted to blame God or the universe
- When you want to understand your struggles as consequences rather than random cruelty
- When you are going through a hard time and worried it will shake your deeper clarity
- When you need to take honest responsibility instead of pointing fingers outward