Abhanga 493

You don't need skill or polish to come to God; come honestly as you are, and trust that the relationship obligates both sides.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A don't-release-me-make-patita-pāvana-true abhang. Third of the Tukyā-bamdhu (Kānhōbā) cluster. Four claims:

1. नेणें गाऊं कांहीं धड बोलतां वचन — कायावाचामनेंसहित आलों शरण — don't know to sing well, speak vacana straight — came śaraṇa with kāyā-vāca-mana. The opening-confession: I don't know how to sing well or speak straight; (but) withkāyā-vāca-mana(body-speech-mind) I have comeśaraṇa.

2. करीं अंगीकार नको मोकलूं हरी — पतितपावन ब्रिदें करावीं खरीं — angīkāra — don't release, Hari — make patita-pāvana brīdē kharī. The take-up-and-don't-release petition: take me up (angīkāra); don'tmōkalūm(release / abandon), Hari; make thepatita-pāvana brīdē(epithet "purifier-of-the-fallen") kharī (true).Honor-Your-epithet.

3. नेणें भक्तिभाव तुझा म्हणवितों दास — जरि देसी अंतर तरि लज्जा कोणास — don't know bhakti-bhāva — called Your dāsa — if You give antara, for whom is lajjā? The for-whom-the-shame challenge: I don't knowbhakti-bhāva; but I am called Yourdāsa; if You giveantara(gap / abandonment), for whom is thelajjā? (compare 0478 kavaṇā lāja; same challenge). Mutual-honor-stake.

4. म्हणे तुकयाबंधु तुझे धरियेले पाये — आतां कोण दुजा ऐसा आम्हांसी आहे — Tukyā-bamdhu says: Your feet held — now, who-other like You for us? The closing-claim: I have held Your feet; now, who-other like You is for us? Exclusivity-claim.

[T]

For someone today

Kanhoba admits he doesn't know how to sing beautifully or speak eloquently, but says he has come in surrender with his whole body, speech, and mind anyway — skill was never the requirement. He asks God to take him in and stay true to the reputation of being a savior of the fallen, and he pushes back a little: if God calls him a devotee and then abandons him, whose honor is really on the line? He closes by saying that having held onto God's feet, there is no one else he could turn to. It's permission to come to the sacred exactly as you are, without polish, and to trust that the relationship itself carries an obligation on both sides.

मराठी: कान्होबा कबूल करतात की त्यांना सुंदर गाता येत नाही किंवा प्रवाही बोलता येत नाही, तरीही ते आपले शरीर, वाणी आणि मन घेऊन शरण आले आहेत — कौशल्य कधीच अट नव्हती. ते देवाला विनंती करतात की त्याने त्यांना स्वीकारावे आणि पतितपावन या आपल्या नावाला खरे उतरावे, आणि थोडे धीटपणे विचारतात — जर देवाने आपल्या भक्ताला असे म्हणवून घेऊन नंतर सोडून दिले, तर लाज कोणाची? शेवटी ते म्हणतात की देवाचे पाय धरल्यानंतर आता दुसरे कोणीच नाही ज्याच्याकडे जावे. हा धडा आहे की आपण जसे आहोत तसेच, कोणत्याही सफाईशिवाय, पवित्राकडे येऊ शकतो आणि नात्याने दोन्ही बाजूंना जबाबदारी असते यावर विश्वास ठेवू शकतो.

Where this applies

• Skill-less śaraṇa with all-three. Don't pretend.
• Make patita-pāvana brīdē kharī. Honor-epithet.
• Antara-shame is the deva's. Mutual-stake.
• Who-other like You. Exclusivity.

Related verses

• Abhanga 4581 — Tukaram closes his songs by confessing his own unworthiness and boldness, offering everyth
• Abhanga 4182 — Steady, patient longing combined with trust in the protector's own promise to protect is w
• Abhanga 4532 — The Lord embraces everyone without asking their status, and the devotion of his devotees p
• Abhanga 4568 — God bears his devotees' burdens on his own head and stands guard over them, so their heart