Abhanga 4079
One simple act, remembering the divine, is enough to turn ordinary life into joy and is offered freely to anyone willing to take it.
The verse
संसारा आलिया एक सुख आहे । आठवावे पाय विठोबाचे ॥१॥
येणें होय सर्व संसार सुखाचा । न लगे दुःखाचा लेश कांहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
घेईल तयासी सोपें आहे सुख । बोलियेलें मुखें नारायण ॥२॥
सांगितली सोय करुणासागरें । तुम्हां कांहो बरें न वाटतें ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे तेणें उपकार केला । भोऑया भाविकाला तरावया ॥४॥
Literal translation
One-sukha-in-samsāra — remember-Viṭhōbā-feet. All-samsāra-sukha — no-leśa-duḥkha. Easy-sukha-for-taker — Nārāyaṇa-said. Karuṇā-sāgara-told-sōya — why-not-feel-good. Tukā: upakāra-bhōḷē-bhāvika-cross.
What it means
A 4-verse one-sukha text. Coming into the world, there is one joy — remembering Viṭhōbā's feet. By this, the whole world becomes joy — no trace of suffering is left. For the one who takes it, the joy is easy; Nārāyaṇa himself has said this. The ocean-of-compassion has told us the way — why doesn't it feel good to you? He has done this favor — for the simple-devotee to cross.
For someone today
Tukaram says there is really only one true joy available to us in this busy world: simply remembering Vitthal, holding him in mind. That single act, he insists, is enough to turn the whole of ordinary life into joy, leaving no real trace of suffering behind. It costs nothing and is easy for anyone willing to take it, since God himself pointed the way. Tukaram is almost puzzled that people resist something this simple and kind, a gift meant to help ordinary, unpretentious people get through life whole.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की या धावपळीच्या जगात खरा आनंद फक्त एकच आहे, तो म्हणजे विठोबाचे स्मरण मनात ठेवणे. हे एकच कृत्य संपूर्ण सांसारिक जीवनाला आनंदात बदलण्यास पुरेसे आहे, आणि त्यानंतर दुःखाचा लवलेशही उरत नाही असे ते सांगतात. यासाठी काहीच किंमत मोजावी लागत नाही आणि जो ते स्वीकारतो त्याला ते सहज साध्य होते, कारण खुद्द देवानेच ही वाट दाखवली आहे. एवढी साधी आणि दयाळू गोष्ट लोक का नाकारतात, याचे तुकारामांना जवळजवळ आश्चर्य वाटते; ही तर साध्या, निगर्वी माणसांना आयुष्य पार करण्यासाठी दिलेली एक देणगी आहे.
Where this applies
- When your daily life feels overwhelmed by tasks and worries and you crave one simple source of steadiness
- When you assume peace of mind requires great effort, when a small daily habit could bring it
- When you resist a simple kindness or easy practice offered to you, suspicious that it can't really help
- When you want to reassure someone that they don't need to be extraordinary to find real comfort