Abhanga 4116
Too much scattered company can drain focus and steady devotion, so choosing quiet solitude for a time can be the wiser path.
The verse
संगें वाढे सीण न घडे भजन । त्रिविध हें जन बहु देवा ॥१॥
याचि दुःखें या जनाचा कांटाळा । दिसताती डोळां नानाछंद ॥ध्रु.॥
एकविध भाव राहावया ठाव । नेदी हा संदेह राहों चित्तीं ॥२॥
शब्दज्ञानी हित नेणती आपुलें । आणीक देखिलें नावडे त्या ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे आतां एकलें चि भलें । बैसोनि उगलें राहावें तें ॥४॥
Literal translation
Sanga-makes-śīṇa-grow — bhajana-doesn't. Kāṇṭāḷā-of-jana — many-chhanda. Eka-vidha-bhāva-no-ṭhāva — samdēha-doesn't-let-stay. Śabda-jñānīs-don't-know-hita. Tukā: eka-le-bhalē — sit-ugla.
What it means
A 4-verse solitude-preference text. Company only makes fatigue grow; bhajana doesn't get done. Three-kinds-of-people are many. By this very suffering, I'm disgusted with people; their many tempos are seen. One-pointed bhāva has no place to remain; doubt doesn't let me stay (in chitti). Word-knowers don't know their own welfare; what others have seen, they don't like. Now, being alone is best — sit plain and stay. The closing ēka-le-chi-bhalē (alone-is-best) is the recluse-resolve.
For someone today
Tukaram admits that too much company only tires him out and gets in the way of his devotion, since people around him pull in so many different directions with their many moods and habits. He grows weary watching this constant scattering of attention, and finds that a single, steady focus on the divine has no room to settle when doubt and distraction from others keep creeping into his mind. He notices that people who are full of clever words often do not even understand their own real good, and dismiss anything unfamiliar, so he concludes that for now, sitting quietly alone is the better path.
मराठी: तुकाराम कबूल करतात की जास्त सहवासामुळे थकवा येतो आणि त्यामुळे भक्तीत अडथळा येतो, कारण आजूबाजूचे लोक आपापल्या वेगवेगळ्या मनोवृत्ती आणि सवयींमुळे वेगवेगळ्या दिशांना खेचत असतात. हे सतत विखुरलेले लक्ष पाहून त्यांना कंटाळा येतो, आणि जेव्हा इतरांकडून येणारी शंका आणि विचलितता मनात सतत घुसत राहते तेव्हा देवावरील एकाग्र, स्थिर लक्ष स्थिरावायला जागाच उरत नाही. ते पाहतात की चतुर शब्दांनी भरलेले लोक बरेचदा स्वतःचे खरे हितही समजत नाहीत आणि अपरिचित गोष्ट नाकारतात, त्यामुळे ते ठरवतात की सध्या तरी शांतपणे एकटे बसणे हाच अधिक चांगला मार्ग आहे.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's solitude-preference canonical