Abhanga 4452
You are only a brief guest in this life, so putting off turning to God because your mind is distracted is a gamble you may not get the chance to win, since death can come without warning.
The verse
दो दिवसांचा पाहुणा चालतो उताणा । कां रे नारायणा न भजसी ॥१॥
तूं अखंड दुश्चित्ता तुज नेती अवचिता । मग पंढरीनाथा भजसी केव्हां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसे आहेत उदंड । तया केशव प्रचंड केवीं भेटे ॥३॥
Literal translation
2-day-guest-walks-supine — why-not-bhaja-Nārāyaṇa. Akhanḍa-duśchittā — taken-suddenly — when-then-bhaja-Paṇḍharī-nātha. Tukā: such-are-udaṇḍa — to-them-Keśava-prachaṇḍa-how-meets.
What it means
A 3-verse mortality-warning text. The guest of only two days walks supine (lying-back, with self-satisfaction) — why, O Nārāyaṇa, do you not worship? You are constantly with bad-mind — they will take you suddenly — then when will you worship Paṇḍharī-nātha? Tukā says: such people are very-many — for them, Kēśava in his vast-form — how will he meet? The picture: the human-being who is only a 2-day-guest in this body — walks supine (with utāṇā = face-up, with self-satisfied gait) — why no Name? Pair with 2797 (kāḷa-grāsāvayā), 2884 (māpārī-mortality-warning).
For someone today
You are only a guest in this body for a couple of days, yet you walk around relaxed and self satisfied as if you owned the place, and you still don't turn to God. Your mind stays distracted and careless day after day, and death can take you suddenly, without warning, so if you keep putting off devotion, when exactly do you think you'll get around to it? Tukārām says there are countless people living exactly this way, and that is precisely why so many never truly meet the vastness of the divine before their time runs out.
मराठी: तू या शरीरात फक्त दोन दिवसांचा पाहुणा आहेस, तरीही स्वतःच्याच मालकीचे असल्यासारखा निवांत आणि समाधानी चालतोस, आणि तरीही परमेश्वराकडे वळत नाहीस. तुझे मन सतत विचलित आणि बेफिकीर राहते, आणि मृत्यू केव्हाही अचानक येऊ शकतो, त्यामुळे भक्ती पुढे ढकलत राहिलास तर ती नक्की कधी करणार आहेस? तुकाराम म्हणतात, अशी माणसे खूप आहेत, आणि म्हणूनच त्यांना वेळ संपण्याआधी त्या विशाल परमतत्त्वाची खरी भेट कधीच घडत नाही.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's 2-day-guest mortality-warning canonical