Abhanga 4157
When your devotion becomes so complete that your life is no longer separate from what you love, hold steady even if the world calls you mad.
The verse
गावलोकिकाहीं लावियेलें पिसें । काय सांगों ऐसें तुजपासीं ॥१॥
तोंड काळें केलें फिरविलें मज । नाहीं धरिली लाज पांडुरंगा ॥ध्रु.॥
काय तुजपासीं सांगों हें गार्हाणें । मग काय जिणें तुझें माझें ॥२॥
कोणासाटीं आतां करावा संसार । केली वारावार आपणें चि ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे आम्ही मोडिला घरचार । धरियेला धीर तुझ्या पायीं ॥४॥
Literal translation
Gāvalōkikāhīm lāviyele pise — kāya sāngōm aise tujapāsīm — to the village-worldly (you) have stuck a madness — what shall I tell — like this — to you. Tōṇḍa kāḷe kele phiravile maja — nāhīm dharilī lāja Pāṇḍurangā — (my) face blackened — (you) turned me about — Pāṇḍurangā, (you) felt no shame. Kāya tujapāsīm sāngōm he gārhāṇe — maga kāya jīṇe tujhe mājhe — what complaint shall I tell to you — then what living of yours-and-mine. Kōṇāsāṭīm ātām karāvā samsāra — kelī vārāvāra āpaṇe chi — for whom now should (one) do samsāra — I-myself have cut-it-off. Tukā mhaṇe āmhī mōḍilā gharachāra — dhariyelā dhīra tujhyā pāyīm — Tukā says: we have broken (our) household — (we) have held steady at your feet.
What it means
A 5-verse intimate-complaint to Pāṇḍuranga. World-thinks-me-mad-because-of-you; you-feel-no-shame-(of-me); what-life-of-yours-and-mine; for-whom-samsāra-now — I-cut-it-off; broke-the-household; hold-only-your-feet. The jīṇe tujhe mājhe phrase is the bhakta's lover's-protest: now we are one life, what is yours separate from mine.
For someone today
Tukaram voices an intimate complaint to Vitthal here: the whole village now thinks him mad because of his devotion, his reputation is ruined, and he feels Vitthal has shown no shame about putting him in this position. Yet he insists their lives are now so entwined that there is nothing left to call separate, no longer your life and my life, just one shared life. He has cut himself off from ordinary household duties entirely, choosing instead to hold steady, unwavering trust at those feet.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे विठोबाकडे मनमोकळी तक्रार करतात: त्यांच्या भक्तीमुळे संपूर्ण गाव त्यांना वेडे समजते, त्यांची अब्रू गेली आहे, आणि विठोबाने याची कोणतीही लाज बाळगली नाही असे त्यांना वाटते. तरीही ते ठामपणे सांगतात की आता त्यांची आयुष्ये इतकी एकरूप झाली आहेत की तुझे आणि माझे असा भेदच उरलेला नाही, आता एकच जीवन आहे. त्यांनी संसाराची नेहमीची जबाबदारी पूर्णपणे सोडली आहे आणि त्याऐवजी त्या चरणांवर अढळ धीर धरला आहे.
Where this applies
- When you're mocked or misunderstood by others because of a deep commitment you've made
- When you feel so entangled with someone or something that you can't separate your life from theirs
- When you give up conventional comforts or reputation to stay true to what matters most
- When you need courage to keep steady faith even when others think you've lost your mind