Abhanga 758
Admit you're lacking in both action and understanding, ask to be protected from anxiety, ask that no account of merits and faults be kept, and trust that even countless offenses can be quietly absorbed and forgiven.
The verse
क्रियामतिहीन । एक मी गा तुझें दीन ॥१॥ देवा करावा सांभाळ । वारीं माझी तळमळ ॥ध्रु.॥ नको माझे ठायीं । गुणदोष घालूं कांहीं ॥२॥ अपराधाच्या कोटी । तुका म्हणे घालीं पोटीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Kriyā-mati-hīna — one — I — Your dīna. Deva — sāmbhāḷa — vāri — my taḷamaḷa. Don't — my-ṭhāya — guṇa-dōṣa — put — any. Aparādha-kōṭī — Tuka says: pōṭa — put.
मराठी: क्रियामतिहीन — एक मी गा तुझें दीन. देवा करावा सांभाळ — माझी तळमळ वारी. नको माझे ठायी — गुण-दोष कांहीं घालूं. अपराधाच्या कोटी — Tuka म्हणे: पोटीं घालीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| क्रियामतिहीन | "kriyā-mati-hīna" |
| एक मी गा तुझें दीन | "one — I — Your dīna" |
| देवा करावा सांभाळ | "deva — sāmbhāḷa" |
| वारीं माझी तळमळ | "vāri — my taḷamaḷa" |
| नको माझे ठायीं | "don't — my-ṭhāya" |
| गुणदोष घालूं कांहीं | "guṇa-dōṣa — put — any" |
| अपराधाच्या कोटी | "aparādha-kōṭī" |
| घालीं पोटीं | "put — pōṭa" |
What it means
A kriyā-mati-hīna-Your-dīna-do-protection-don't-put-guṇa-doṣa-aparādha-kōṭīs-into-pōṭa abhang. Kriyā-mati-hīna-petition register. Three claims:
-
क्रिया-मति-हीन — Your-दीन — सांभाळ — तळमळ-वारी. Kriyā-mati-hīna-protect-claim. Kriyā-mati-hīna (deficient in action and in intellect — neither has the bhakta the deeds nor the discrimination);I am one Your dīna; deva, do the sāmbhāḷa (protection);vāri(remove, banish) mytaḷamaḷa(burning-anxiety, restless-fever). Kriyā-mati-hīna-Your-dīna-protect-and-remove-burning.
-
नको माझे-ठायीं — गुण-दोष-घालूं. Don't-put-guṇa-doṣa-on-me-claim. Don't put on my-ṭhāya(place, on me) anyguṇa-dōṣa(merit-or-fault). Don't-make-me-the-account-of-merit-and-fault. (Reading: don't track my merits-and-faults; don't keep an account-on-me.)
-
Tuka: अपराधाच्या-कोटी — पोटीं-घालीं. Aparādha-kōṭīs-into-the-pōṭa-claim. Tuka says:kōṭīs(crores) ofaparādhas(offences); put-them into-the-pōṭa (into the belly, swallow-them-up, hide-them-from-sight).Swallow-the-aparādhas-into-the-belly.(The deva is asked to swallow / consume / make-disappear the kōṭī aparādhas, putting them into His own belly, just as a mother swallows the unmentionable.)
[T]
For someone today
This verse is a confession of complete spiritual poverty. Tukaram admits he has neither the right actions nor the right understanding to earn God's favor, so he simply asks to be protected and to have his restless, burning anxiety eased. He asks God not to keep a ledger of his merits and faults and weigh him by that account. Instead he begs that his countless offenses simply be swallowed up and hidden away, the way a mother absorbs a child's shame without judgment. You don't need a spotless record to approach the divine, just honest admission and trust that you will still be received.
मराठी: ही ओवी संपूर्ण आध्यात्मिक दारिद्र्याची कबुली आहे. तुकाराम मान्य करतात की त्यांच्याकडे योग्य कृतीही नाही आणि योग्य समजही नाही, म्हणून ते फक्त संरक्षण आणि आपल्या मनातील तळमळ शांत करण्याची विनंती करतात. देवाने त्यांच्या गुण-दोषांचा हिशोब ठेवू नये अशी ते मागणी करतात. त्याऐवजी, आईने मुलाची लाज लपवावी तशी, देवाने त्यांचे कोट्यवधी अपराध पोटात घालून लपवावेत अशी कळकळीची विनंती ते करतात. देवाकडे जाण्यासाठी परिपूर्ण गुणवत्तेची गरज नाही, फक्त प्रामाणिक कबुली आणि विश्वास पुरेसा आहे.
Where this applies
- When you feel you haven't done enough right, in action or understanding, to deserve grace
- When anxiety and inner restlessness make you want relief rather than more instruction
- When you're afraid your past mistakes are being tallied against you
- When you want to confess wrongdoing without it becoming a permanent stain