Abhanga 4153
Put your own true good first, let go of pride and status, and live simply and fearlessly, because time is already running out.
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)