Abhanga 4287
Whether people criticize or praise you, keep your focus on your own true welfare through devotion, since living to match everyone else's expectations is how you lose yourself.
The verse
कोणी निंदा कोणी वंदा । आम्हां स्वहिताचा धंदा ॥१॥
काय तुम्हांसी गरज । आम्ही भजूं पंढरिराज ॥ध्रु.॥
तुम्हांसारिखें चालावें । तेव्हां स्वहिता मुकावें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे हो कां कांहीं । गळ दिला विठ्ठल पायीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Some-blame-some-vande — we-have-svahita-dhandā. What-need-yours — we-worship-Paṇḍharī-rāja. To-walk-like-you — leave-svahita. Tukā: whatever-the-case — gaḷa-given-at-Viṭhṭhal-pāya.
What it means
A 3-verse equanimity-with-public text. Some blame, some praise — we have the business of self-welfare. What's your need to us — we'll worship Paṇḍharī-rāja. To walk like you (worldly-folk) — that's when one leaves self-welfare. Tukā says: whatever may be — I've cast my hook at Viṭhṭhal's feet. The fisherman-image: gaḷa-dilā-Viṭhṭhala-pāya — I have placed my fish-hook at Viṭhṭhal's feet — caught-fast, can't-be-pulled-away. Pair with 4244 (radical-defiance), 4267 (only-you-cut-loka-lāja-shackle).
For someone today
Tukaram says people will inevitably criticize you or praise you, but that isn't his business; his real work is looking after his own true welfare through devotion. He refuses to worry about what onlookers think or need from him, choosing instead to keep worshipping Panduranga. Trying to live by matching everyone else's expectations, he says, is exactly how a person loses sight of what actually matters for their own soul. He describes his devotion like a fishing hook cast firmly at Vitthal's feet, once caught there, nothing can pull him away, no matter what people say.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की लोक तुमची निंदा करतील किंवा वंदन करतील, पण ते त्यांचे काम नाही — त्यांचे खरे काम आहे भक्तीद्वारे स्वतःचे खरे हित साधणे. लोक काय विचार करतात किंवा त्यांना काय हवे आहे याची चिंता न करता ते पंढरीरायाची भक्ती करत राहतात. सगळ्यांच्या अपेक्षांप्रमाणे चालण्याचा प्रयत्न केला, तर तेव्हाच माणूस आपल्या खऱ्या हितापासून दूर जातो, असे ते सांगतात. त्यांची भक्ती ते विठ्ठलाच्या पायी घातलेल्या गळासारखी वर्णन करतात — एकदा तो अडकला की लोक काहीही म्हणोत, तो कोणीही ओढून काढू शकत नाही.
Where this applies
- When people are gossiping about you or judging your choices and it's pulling your focus away from what matters
- When you're tempted to change your priorities just to fit in with what everyone around you is doing
- When you need a reminder that your inner spiritual life is your own responsibility, not something others get a vote on
- When you want the confidence to stay firmly committed to your path no matter who approves or disapproves