Abhanga 4438
Old age arrives with brutal physical decline, so turn your mind toward what matters most now, before decline makes it harder to do at all.
The verse
वृद्धपणीं आली जरा । शरीर कांपे थरथरा ॥१॥
आयुष्य गेलें हें कळेना । स्मरा वेगीं पंढरिराणा ॥ध्रु.॥
दांत दाढा पडिल्या ओस । हनुवटि भेटे नाकास ॥२॥
हात पाय राहिलें कान । नेत्रा पाझर हाले मान ॥३॥
अंगकांति परतली । चिरगुटा ऐसी जाली ॥४॥
आड पडे जिव्हा लोटे । शब्द नये मुखा वाटे॥५॥
लांब लोंबताती अंड । भरभरा वाजे गांड ॥६॥
तुका म्हणे आतां तरी । स्मरा वेगीं हरी हरी ॥७॥
Literal translation
Vrddha-paṇa-jarā — body-trembles. Āyuṣya-gone — remember-Paṇḍharī-rāṇā. Teeth-vacant — chin-meets-nose. Hands-feet-ears-stopped — eyes-leak-head-shakes. Anga-kānti-faded — like-worn-rag. Jihvā-falls — no-śabda-from-mouth. Testicles-hang — anus-noisy. Tukā: at-least-now — Hari-Hari.
What it means
THE canonical 8-verse old-age-decay text — among the most-vivid mortality-meditations in the Gathā. Old-age has come, jarā; the body trembles. Life has gone, one doesn't realize — quickly remember Paṇḍharī-rāṇā. Teeth and molars have fallen, vacant; chin meets nose. Hands, feet, ears have stopped; eyes leak, head shakes. Body-lustre has receded; (the body) has become like a worn rag. Tongue falls and rolls; speech doesn't come from the mouth-way. Long hang the testicles; the anus makes noisy-air. Tukā says: at least now — quickly remember Hari, Hari. Visceral honesty: the 7-detail-decay-inventory (trembling / teeth / hands-feet-ears / lustre / tongue / private-parts) refuses-euphemism. The closing ātām-tarī smarā-vēgīm Hari-Hari (at-least-now-quickly-remember-Hari-Hari) is a desperate-still-urgent call. Pair with 3071-3073 (3-stage-of-life cluster), 4439 (companion vrddha-paṇa-text).
For someone today
Tukārām doesn't soften anything here, he describes old age with brutal, unflinching detail: the trembling body, teeth falling out until the chin nearly touches the nose, hands and feet and ears failing, eyes watering on their own, the head shaking, skin losing its glow until the body looks like a worn-out rag, the tongue growing clumsy so words won't come out right, and even the body's most private functions breaking down. He points out that most people don't even notice their life slipping away while all this happens. His point in laying it out so plainly is urgency, not despair, if you haven't turned your mind toward what matters most, do it now, before decline makes even that harder.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे काहीही सौम्य करत नाहीत, ते म्हातारपणाचे अत्यंत परखड आणि स्पष्ट वर्णन करतात, थरथरणारे शरीर, दात पडून हनुवटी जवळजवळ नाकाला टेकणे, हात-पाय-कान निकामी होणे, डोळ्यांतून आपोआप पाणी वाहणे, मान थरथरणे, त्वचेची कांती हरवून शरीर जुन्या चिंधीसारखे दिसणे, जीभ जड होऊन शब्द नीट न उमटणे, आणि शरीराची अगदी खासगी कार्येसुद्धा कोलमडणे. ते नमूद करतात की हे सगळे घडत असतानाही बहुतेक लोकांना आपले आयुष्य निसटून जात आहे हेच कळत नाही. हे इतक्या स्पष्टपणे मांडण्यामागचा हेतू निराशा नसून निकड आहे, जर तुम्ही अजून सर्वात महत्त्वाच्या गोष्टीकडे मन वळवले नसेल, तर ते आत्ताच करा, कारण वृद्धत्व आल्यावर तेही कठीण होईल.
Where this applies
- When you keep postponing something meaningful, telling yourself there will be time for it later
- When you're caring for an aging parent or grandparent and need to understand the urgency they may feel
- When you're afraid to think honestly about your own aging and mortality
- When you need a jolt of urgency to actually start a spiritual or meaningful practice instead of just planning to someday