Abhanga 4523
Words of devotion or sacrifice without real inner surrender keep God distant, and sincerity is measured only by what you actually do, not by how dramatic your words sound.
The verse
भावनेच्या मुळें अंतरला देव । शिरला संदेह भयें पोटीं ॥१॥
पोटीं होतें मागें जीव द्यावा ऐसें । बोलिल्या सरिसें न करवे ॥२॥
न करवे त्याग जीवाचा या नास । नारायण त्यास अंतरला ॥३॥
अंतरला बहु बोलतां वाउगें । अंतरींच्या त्यागेंविण गोष्टी ॥४॥
गोष्टी सकळांच्या आइकिल्या देवें । कोण कोण्याभावें रडती तीं ॥५॥
तीं गेलीं घरास आपल्या सकळ । गोधनें गोपाळ लोक माय ॥६॥
मायबापांची तों ऐसी जाली गति । तुका म्हणे अंतीं कळों आलें ॥७॥
Literal translation
Bhāvanecyā mūḷe antaralā Deva — śiralā sandeha bhaye pōṭīm — because of (feeble) bhāvanā Deva became-distant; doubt entered belly with fear. Pōṭīm hōte māge jīva dyāvā aise — bōliliyā sarisem na karave — in belly was earlier \"I should give jīva\"; but said-so, cannot do. Na karave tyāga jīvācā yā nāsa — Nārāyaṇa tyāsa antaralā — cannot-do the tyāga of jīva, this loss — Nārāyaṇa receded from him. Antaralā bahu bōlatām vāuge — antarīmcyā tyāgemviṇa gōṣṭī — many become far-off by useless talking; without inner-tyāga (these are) (mere) talks. Gōṣṭī sakaḷāñcyā āikilyā Deve — kōṇa kōṇyā-bhāve raḍatī tīm — Deva heard all talks — who weeps in what bhāva. Tīm gelīm gharāsa āpalyā sakaḷa — gōdhane gopāḷa lōka māya — they all went to their homes — herds, gopāḷas, people, mother. Māyabāpāmcī tōm aise jālī gati — Tukā mhaṇe antīm kaḷōm ālēm — the māyabāpa's gati became thus — Tukā says: at the end (it) came to be known.
What it means
A 7-verse diagnostic piece. The bhāvanā (here = wavering thought) that 'I should give-up my jīva' turns out to be merely-words — cannot-be-done. Words-without-inner-tyāga keep Nārāyaṇa-distant. Yet Deva hears who-weeps in-what-bhāva. They all return home — and at the very end (when Hari-emerges-from-the-ḍoha), the true-state of bhāva is revealed.
For someone today
Someone in the crowd thinks they should give up their own life for Krishna, but when it comes to actually doing it, they cannot, and that gap between the brave words and the real action quietly pushes God further away, because talk without real inner surrender is just talk. Krishna, though, hears all of it, every person's grief, and knows exactly which tears are genuine and which are only performance. In the end, everyone simply goes back to their own homes, and it becomes clear only afterward who truly meant what they said. Tukaram's point is not to shame anyone but to be honest: do not claim a devotion or sacrifice you are not actually ready to live out, because sincerity is measured by what you do, not by how dramatic your words sound.
मराठी: गर्दीतील कोणीतरी असे मनात आणतो की आपण कृष्णासाठी स्वतःचा जीव द्यावा, पण प्रत्यक्षात तसे करण्याची वेळ येते तेव्हा ते जमत नाही, आणि धाडसी शब्द आणि प्रत्यक्ष कृती यातील ही तफावत देवाला हळूच आणखी दूर नेते, कारण खऱ्या अंतरिक समर्पणाशिवाय बोलणे हे केवळ बोलणेच राहते. पण कृष्ण हे सगळे ऐकतो, प्रत्येकाचे दुःख, आणि त्याला बरोबर कळते की कोणाचे अश्रू खरे आहेत आणि कोणाचे केवळ देखावा. शेवटी सगळेजण आपापल्या घरी परततात, आणि नंतरच खरे लक्षात येते की कोण खरोखर काय म्हणाला होता ते खरे होते. तुकारामांचा मुद्दा कोणाला लाजवण्याचा नाही तर प्रामाणिक असण्याचा आहे: जी भक्ती किंवा त्याग तुम्ही प्रत्यक्षात जगायला तयार नाही, तो दावा करू नका, कारण प्रामाणिकपणा शब्दांच्या नाट्यमयतेने नव्हे तर कृतीने मोजला जातो.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's words-without-tyāga-don't-reach canonical
- Companion to 2817 (bhāva-chi-kāraṇa) and 2942 (samnyāsa = samkalpa-destruction)
- Kāḷiyā-mardana cluster