Tuka mhane tyaache paahiliya paay | maga dukha jaay sarva maajhe ||

 

Ramkrishnahari.

‘Karma’ in itself is ordained as a fabric of this creation.  Whatever action we take (physically, mentally or verbally), translates into a ‘praarabdha’ (accumulated karmic results ready to be undergone).  No one can escape from it.  The ‘praarabdha’ that we create is a stencil for what we are going to experience in this very life or in our future lives.  This stencil once cut out cannot be changed.  We ourselves are its architect.  Not even the lord can alter it because if he were to do so, he would be violating the principle of creation itself which he himself has set up.  Moreover, he would stain himself with the blame of bias if he were to do so.  We might then wonder, of what avail is it then, when we seek the recourse of spirituality in our lives? The result of this recourse too works within the same principle of praarabdha’.  When we turn spiritual, we indulge in a set of actions which now create a divine stencil for the times to come.  The more intense our spiritual endeavor, the more glowing our stencil becomes.  A time comes when we are liberated from the creation of any stencil as we merge with the universal self. 

Life therefore throws at us several situations which forces us to rethink and change course to spirituality.  Some realise it sooner and some later.  The lord and guru patiently keep smearing us with coats of divine teachings until then.

While the above process in place, the effects of ‘praarabdha’ do keep influencing us.  We see so many persons who are deeply entrenched in divinity all through their lives but are at the same time facing untold sufferings in the form of diseases or financial troubles or issues in their families.  Know it that they are actually burning away their ‘praarabdha’.  But by leading a life of divinity, they are simultaneously creating a ‘praarabdha’ which eventually lands them up in a sphere where they become free of the cycle of ‘karma’ and life & death itself. 

This is easier said.  How can one persist with consistent devotion when faced with waves after waves of struggles & troubles in this world? Pain is a pain!!!  When there are troubles it does pain.  While in pain, how will we be able to remain devoted or remain spiritual?  ‘Tuka’ says, don’t grieve तुका म्हणे त्याचे पाहिलिया पाय । just by looking at his feet  मग दुःख जाय सर्व माझें, I have forgotten all my travails.  Can there be a simpler formula to bypass the impact of troubles?  Note it that we are not shunning the troubles - they are the resultants of our own ‘praarabdha’.  But we are reducing its impact on us by taking this approach.  Now if we take a close look at those persons who are deeply devoted in spite of being flung hither & tither by their worldly troubles, we will realise that it is the spirit of this teaching that keeps them going strong in their spiritual endeavour. 

Now let’s spare a thought at those who are not faced with such a mountain of struggles.  They are reaping the crop of their good ‘karmas’ of the past.  Is it therefore not pertinent that they should not just double or treble their spiritual pursuits but should take this opportunity to exponentially multiply their efforts to a level by which they get freed from this cycle of ‘karma’ and earn for themselves a permanent merger with the universal Self.

The discussion on this ‘charan’ we have had above is from our sphere.  What trouble is ‘tuka’ experiencing?  What is the ‘praarabdha’ that is ailing him ? For a evolved saint like him, trouble itself has a different definition!!!  Any moment spent without the communion of his beloved ‘vithu’ is pain.  It is very similar to the pain that a toddler feels when separated from its mother.  It never wants to leave its mother’s bossom.  ‘tuka’ wants to be permanently at ‘pandhari’ and with his ‘mauli – vithu’ - पंढरीसी जावें ऐसें माझें मनीं । विठाई जननी भेटे केव्हां.  In contrast to the ways of this world, any material pleasure bereft of ‘vithu’s association, thrown at him actually burns him like as if something smouldering has been flung at him न लगे त्याविण सुखाचा सोहळा । लागे मज ज्वाळा अग्निचिया.  He therefore makes every attempt to sneak out of the grasp of not worldly troubles but worldly pleasures!  What a state!  Once he sneaks out and manages to come to ‘pandhari’ and have a ‘darshan’ of the lord’s feet, he experiences complete solace - तुका म्हणे त्याचे पाहिलिया पाय । मग दुःख जाय सर्व माझें.  Let us pray at the feet of our ‘guru’ and ‘tuka’ that we too enter that realm soon.

Ramkrishnahari.

पंढरीसी जावें ऐसें माझें मनीं । विठाई जननी भेटे केव्हां ॥१॥

न लगे त्याविण सुखाचा सोहळा । लागे मज ज्वाळा अग्निचिया ॥२॥

तुका म्हणे त्याचे पाहिलिया पाय । मग दुःख जाय सर्व माझें ॥३॥