Abhanga 4225
The verse
बारावर्षे बाळपण । तें ही वेचलें अज्ञानें ॥१॥
ऐसा जन्म गेला वांयां । न भजतां पंढरिराया ॥ध्रु.॥
बाकी उरलीं आठ्याशीं । तीस वेचलीं कामासी ॥२॥
बाकी उरलीं आठावन्न । तीस वेचली ममतेनें ॥३॥
बाकी उरलीं आठावीस । देहगेह विसरलास ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसा झाडा । संसार हा आहे थोडा ॥५॥
Literal translation
12-years-bāḷapaṇa-in-ajñāna. Janma-in-vain — not-bhajatā-Paṇḍharī-rāyā. Bāki-88 — 30-on-kāma. Bāki-58 — 30-on-mamatā. Bāki-28 — forgot-deha-gēha. Tukā: such-jhāḍā — samsāra-is-little.
What it means
★★ THE canonical 5-verse life-budget-accounting text. Twelve years of childhood — already lost to ignorance. Such a life passed in vain — not adoring Paṇḍharī-rāyā. Balance 88 — 30 spent on desire. Balance 58 — 30 spent on attachment. Balance 28 — you forgot the body-and-house (didn't tend to either). Tukā says: with such an account, this samsāra is very little. Total: 12+30+30+28 = 100 years. The brilliance is the iterative budget-arithmetic — each remaining-period is consumed by a different attachment, leaving the bhajana-time miniscule. Pair with 4087 (wasted-life family), 3071-3073 (3-stage-of-life biographical cluster).
For someone today
Tukārām: 12-years-childhood + 30-desire + 30-attachment + 28-forgetting = a-life is-spent without bhajana; samsāra-is-very-little.
Where this applies
- ★★ Tukārām's THE life-budget-accounting canonical foundational