Abhanga 4383
Even when you know you are already fully seen and understood, speaking your heart out loud is still worth doing, because honesty matters more than telling someone something new.
The verse
माझें परिसावें गार्हाणें । चत्ति द्यावें नारायणें ॥१॥
माझे हृदयींचें वर्म । देवा जाणशी तूं कर्म ॥ध्रु.॥
सबाह्यअंतरसाक्ष । ऐसा वेदीं केला पक्ष ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे नेणां । काय सांगों नारायणा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Listen-gārhāṇē — chitta-Nārāyaṇa. Hrdaya-warma — you-know-karma. Sa-bāhya-antara-sākṣī — veda-pakṣa. Tukā: you-don't-not-know — what-can-I-say.
What it means
A 3-verse hidden-known petition. Listen to my complaint — Nārāyaṇa, give it your attention. The secret of my heart — Deva, you know (my) karma. (You are) the witness-within-and-without — thus the Veda has established. Tukā says: you do not not-know — what shall I say, Nārāyaṇa? The paradox: if you already-know-everything, what can I say? — but-still, listen. The Veda-attestation: sa-bāhya-antara-sākṣī (within-and-without-witness) is a standard Upaniṣadic-formulation invoked here as ground for the petition.
For someone today
Tukaram asks God to simply listen to his complaint, to give it real attention, even though he immediately admits there is a paradox in doing so. He says God already knows the innermost secret of his heart and every action he has taken, because scripture itself describes God as the witness both inside and outside every being. So Tukaram wonders, almost helplessly, what is even left to say to someone who already knows everything about you. Yet he still voices his lament anyway, because being fully known does not make the act of speaking your heart pointless, it makes it honest.
मराठी: तुकाराम देवाला विनवतात की माझे गार्हाणे नीट ऐक, त्याकडे लक्ष दे, आणि लगेच एक विरोधाभासही मान्य करतात. ते म्हणतात की देवाला माझ्या हृदयातील गुपित आणि माझी प्रत्येक कृती आधीच माहीत आहे, कारण वेदही देवाला प्रत्येकाच्या आत आणि बाहेर साक्षी म्हणून वर्णन करतात. मग तुकाराम जवळजवळ हतबल होऊन विचारतात की ज्याला सगळे आधीच माहीत आहे त्याला आणखी काय सांगायचे. तरीही ते आपले गाऱ्हाणे मांडतातच, कारण संपूर्णपणे ओळखले जाणे म्हणजे मन उघड करणे व्यर्थ ठरत नाही, उलट ते अधिक प्रामाणिक ठरते.
Where this applies
- When you pray or confide in someone who already knows exactly what you are going through
- When you feel there is nothing new left to say, yet you still need to voice what is in your heart
- When you find comfort in being deeply known rather than having to explain or justify yourself
- When you keep speaking your worries aloud even though you know the outcome is already understood