Abhanga 4153
Tukārām says: renounce — first do your own good — drop your pride of birth and honor — live alone without fear — Death already grips your throat.
The verse
वैभव राज्य संपत्ती टाकावी । उदरार्थ मागावी माधोकरी ॥१॥
आपुलें तें आधीं करावें स्वहित । ऐसी आहे नीत स्वधर्माची ॥ध्रु.॥
वर्ण कुळ जाति याचा अभिमान । तजावा सन्मान लौकिकाचा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे राहे एकाकी निःशंक । देउनियां हाक कंठीं काळ ॥३॥
Literal translation
Vaibhava rājya sampattī ṭākāvī — udarārtha māgāvī mādhōkarī — throw-away glory-kingdom-wealth — beg mādhukarī for belly. Āpule te ādhī karāvem svahita — aisī āhe nīta svadharmācī — first do your-own self-good — such is the rule of svadharma. Varṇa kuḷa jāti yāchā abhimāna — tajāvā sanmāna laukikāchā — abandon the pride of caste-clan-birth — abandon worldly-honor. Tukā mhaṇe rāhe ekākī niḥśanka — dēuniyām hāka kaṇṭhīm kāḷa — Tukā says: live alone, without-doubt — giving a shout — Time in the throat.
What it means
A 3-verse radical-renunciation prescription. Throw-away-wealth-glory-kingdom; beg-for-belly; svadharma-is-svahita-first; drop-caste-clan-birth-pride; drop-worldly-honor; live-alone-without-doubt — shout-out-with-Time-(kāḷa)-in-throat. The kaṇṭhīm kāḷa image is the Time-grips-your-throat-already mortality-meditation.
For someone today
Tukārām says: renounce — first do your own good — drop your pride of birth and honor — live alone without fear — Death already grips your throat.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's radical-renunciation; svahita-first canonical
- Companion to 2853 (fakīra-prayer) and 2884 (māpārī-mortality-warning)