Abhanga 4190
Letting worry consume every moment of your inner life, and keeping close company with someone who has no room for reflection, both quietly pull you down.
The verse
प्रपंचाची पीडा सोसिती अघोरी । जया क्षणभरी नाम नये ॥१॥
नाम नाठविती आत्मया रामाचें । धिग जिणें त्याचें भवा मूळ ॥ध्रु.॥
मूळ ते पापाचें आचरण तयाचें । नाहीं राघवाचें स्मरण त्या ॥२॥
स्मरण भजन नावडे जयासी । आंदणीया दासी यमदूतां ॥३॥
चिंतन रामाचें न करी तो दोषी । एकांत तयासीं बोलों नये ॥४॥
नये त्याचा संग धरूं म्हणे तुका । धरितां पातका वांटेकरी ॥५॥
Literal translation
Prapancha-pīḍā-aghora — no-Name-kṣaṇa. Dhig-jiṇē — no-Ātmā-Rāma — bhava-mūḷa. Pāpa-mūḷa-conduct — no-Rāghava-smaraṇa. No-smaraṇa-bhajana — Yamadūta-bondsmaids. No-Rāma-chintana — don't-speak-ēkānta. Tukā: don't-hold-sanga — pātaka-vāṇṭēkarī.
What it means
A 5-verse anti-no-Name-sanga text. Those who suffer prapancha-trouble in the worst-degree have no Name even for a moment. They don't recall the Ātmā-Rāma's Name — shame on their living — it's the root of bhava. The root of sin is their conduct; no Rāghava-remembrance in them. To whom remembrance and bhajana don't please — bondsmaids-by-gift to the Yama-dūtas. He who doesn't do Rāma-meditation is a dōṣī; don't speak with him privately. Don't hold his company — if you hold it, you become a sharer of sin. The hard line: no-Name-recall = Yamadūta's-property = pātaka-shared-by-sanga. Pair with 4186 (qualities-come-by-sanga).
For someone today
Tukārām describes people so consumed by worldly troubles that they never find even a moment's space to remember what actually sustains the spirit. He says this forgetting is itself the root of their continued suffering, their whole way of living is built on it. Someone who finds remembrance and devotion unpleasant has effectively handed themselves over to ruin, and Tukārām warns that you should not even speak privately with such a person, let alone keep them as close company, because their habits can pull you down with them. The lesson is twofold: do not let worldly worry swallow every last bit of your inner life, and be careful about the company you keep, since closeness to someone with no room for reflection can drag you into their pattern too.
मराठी: तुकाराम अशा माणसांचे वर्णन करतात जे ऐहिक त्रासात इतके गुरफटलेले असतात की त्यांना क्षणभरही आत्म्याला टिकवणाऱ्या गोष्टीची आठवण होत नाही. ते म्हणतात हे विसरणेच त्यांच्या सततच्या दुःखाचे मूळ आहे, त्यांचे संपूर्ण जगणे त्यावरच उभे आहे. ज्याला स्मरण आणि भक्ती आवडत नाही, त्याने स्वतःला जणू नाशाच्या हवाली केले आहे, आणि तुकाराम इशारा देतात की अशा माणसाशी खासगीत बोलूही नये, त्याची जवळची संगत तर दूरच, कारण त्याच्या सवयी तुम्हालाही खाली ओढू शकतात. यातून दुहेरी धडा मिळतो, ऐहिक काळजीला आपले संपूर्ण आंतरिक जीवन गिळू देऊ नये, आणि आपली संगत जपून निवडावी, कारण चिंतनाला जागाच नसलेल्या माणसाची जवळीक आपल्यालाही त्याच्याच वळणावर नेऊ शकते.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's no-Name = Yamadūta-bondsmaid; sanga-shares-sin canonical