Abhanga 4183
Once genuine love or purpose has truly settled in the heart, even a long delay cannot undo the gain that love already represents.
The verse
एक वेळे तरी जाईन माहेरा । बहुजन्म फेरा जाल्यावरी ॥१॥
चित्ता हे बैसली अविट आवडी । पालट ती घडी नेघे एकी ॥ध्रु.॥
करावें ते करी कारणशरीर । अंतरीं त्या धीर जीवनाचा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तरि होइल विलंब । परि माझा लाभ खरा जाला ॥३॥
Literal translation
At-least-once-go-māhēra — after-many-births-phēra. Chitti-aviṭa-āvaḍī-set. Causal-body-do-its-work — antar-dhīra-of-jīvana. Tukā: delay-okay — my-lābha-real-jhālā.
What it means
A 3-verse patience-resolve text. At least once, after many-births' wandering, let me go to mother's-home. In my heart, this unfading love has settled — it doesn't change for one moment. Let the causal-body do its work; within there is the patience of life. Even if there's delay, my gain has been real. Māhēra = Pāṇḍharī (mother's-home metaphor; standard Vārkarī image). The closing is a striking confidence: delay-doesn't-undo-the-fact-of-the-real-gain.
For someone today
Tukārām speaks of longing to go home, to Paṇḍharī, at least once after so many cycles of birth and struggle. He says this unfading love has already settled in his heart and does not waver even for a moment, no matter what happens outwardly. He is willing to let the body and circumstances take whatever time they need, because he trusts there is a deep steadiness underneath it all. Even if the journey is delayed, he insists his gain is already real, the love itself is the achievement, not just the arrival. The lesson is that once genuine love or purpose has truly settled in your heart, delay does not erase it, you can be patient because the outcome is already secure inside you.
मराठी: तुकाराम अनेक जन्मांच्या फेऱ्यानंतर एकदा तरी माहेरी, पंढरीला जाण्याची ओढ व्यक्त करतात. ते म्हणतात हे न मिटणारे प्रेम मनात आधीच स्थिरावले आहे आणि बाह्य परिस्थिती कशीही असली तरी ते क्षणभरही ढळत नाही. शरीराला आणि परिस्थितीला हवा तेवढा वेळ लागू द्यावा, कारण आतमध्ये एक खोल स्थैर्य आहे यावर त्यांचा विश्वास आहे. प्रवासाला उशीर झाला तरी त्यांचा लाभ आधीच खरा झाला आहे असे ते ठामपणे सांगतात, कारण प्रेम हीच खरी प्राप्ती आहे, फक्त पोहोचणे नव्हे. यातून हा धडा मिळतो की एकदा खरे प्रेम किंवा हेतू मनात स्थिरावला की उशीर त्याला पुसून टाकत नाही, कारण निकाल आधीच आपल्या आत सुरक्षित असतो.
Where this applies
- When you are waiting a long time to reach a goal or return to a place that feels like home
- When circumstances keep delaying something you long for and you need patience instead of despair
- When you want reassurance that a love or commitment already settled in your heart cannot be undone by delay
- When you must let a process take its natural time rather than forcing an outcome