Abhanga 862
When your own efforts keep failing, the honest move is to stop relying on your own merit and simply ask to be helped by grace alone.
The verse
न कळतां काय करावा उपाय । जेणें राहे भाव तुझ्या पायीं ॥१॥ येऊनियां वास करिसी हृदयीं । ऐसें घडे कई कासयानें ॥ध्रु.॥ साच भावें तुझें चिंतन मानसीं । राहे हें करिसी कैं गा देवा ॥२॥ लटिकें हें माझें करूनियां दुरी । साच तूं अंतरीं येउनि राहें ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे मज राखावें पतिता । आपुलिया सत्ता पांडुरंगा ॥४॥
Literal translation
Without-knowing — upāya — bhāva — pāyī. Coming — dwell — hṛdaya — when — by-what. Sāca bhāvē — cintana — mānas — when — Dēva. Laṭikē — durī; sāca — antara — come. Tuka says: protect — patita — āpulīyā sattā — Pāṇḍuranga.
मराठी: (तुम्हीं) न-कळतां काय उपाय करावा — जेणं तुझ्या पायीं भाव राहे?. येऊनियां हृदयीं वास करिसी — असं कई, कशा-नं घडे?. साच-भावें तुझं चिंतन मानसीं — हें राहे, करिसी कैं गा, देवा?. लटिकें हें माझें दुरी करूनियां — साच तूं अंतरीं येउनि राहें. Tuka म्हणे: मज पतिताला राखावें — आपुलिया सत्तेनं, Pāṇḍurangā.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| न कळतां काय करावा उपाय | "without-knowing — what — upāya" |
| जेणें राहे भाव तुझ्या पायीं | "by-which — bhāva — Your — pāyī" |
| येऊनियां वास करिसी हृदयीं | "coming — dwell — hṛdaya" |
| ऐसें घडे कई कासयानें | "this — ghaḍē — when — by-what" |
| साच भावें तुझें चिंतन मानसीं | "sāca bhāvē — cintana — mānas" |
| राहे हें करिसी कैं गा देवा | "stay — when — Dēva" |
| लटिकें हें माझें करूनियां दुरी | "laṭikē — durī" |
| साच तूं अंतरीं येउनि राहें | "sāca — antara — come — stay" |
| मज राखावें पतिता | "me — protect — patita" |
| आपुलिया सत्ता पांडुरंगा | "āpulīyā — sattā — Pāṇḍuranga" |
What it means
A what-upāya-without-You-knowing-bhāva-stays-at-feet-when-You-dwell-in-heart-true-cintana-in-manas-make-false-far-true-You-come-stay-protect-the-patita-by-Your-sattā abhang. Without-You-no-upāya-protect-the-patita register. Five claims:
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न-कळतां-उपाय-कुठला — भाव-तुझ्या-पायीं-राहे. Without-You-no-upāya-claim. Without-You-knowing, whatupāyacan be done — by which thebhāvastays at Yourpāyī?No-upāya-without-You; bhāva-stays-only-by-Your-doing.
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हृदयीं-वास-कई-कशा-नं. When-You-dwell-in-heart-claim. You will come and dwell in (my)hṛdaya — when does this happen, by what (means)? When-and-by-what?
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साच-भावें-चिंतन-मानसीं — कैं-गा-देवा. True-cintana-in-manas-when-claim. Withsāca bhāvē, Your cintana — when will You make it stay in the mānas, Dēvā?When-will-You-make-it-stay?
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लटिकें-दुरी — साच-अंतरीं-येउनि-राहे. Make-false-far-true-You-come-stay-claim. Making thelaṭikē(the false-mine)durī; You, thesāca, come and stay in theantara. False-far; True-You-stay-in-inner.
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Tuka: पतिताला-राखावें — आपुलिया-सत्ता-Pāṇḍurangā. Protect-the-patita-by-Your-sattā-claim. Tuka says: protect me, thepatita, by Your-own sattā, Pāṇḍurangā. Protect-by-Your-own-sattā-the-patita. (The āpuliyā sattā claim: by Your-own-authority — not by my-merit. The petition is grounded in Your sattā, not in any-claim of mine.)
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram admits he's stuck: without God's own involvement, he doesn't know what method could possibly make his devotion stick. He asks directly, almost pleading, when and how God will actually come to dwell in his heart, when true remembrance will stay steady in his mind instead of slipping away. He asks God to push aside everything false that he clings to as his own, and to come stay in his inner being as the one true reality. He closes not by claiming any merit of his own, but by asking to be protected simply because God chooses to protect him, purely by God's own authority, not because Tukaram has earned it.
मराठी: तुकाराम कबूल करतात की ते अडकले आहेत, देव स्वतः सहभागी झाल्याशिवाय, कोणतीही युक्ती त्यांची भक्ती टिकवू शकत नाही. ते जवळजवळ याचना करत विचारतात, देव त्यांच्या हृदयात कधी आणि कसं वस्ती करेल, खरं चिंतन मनात कधी स्थिर राहील, न सुटता. ते देवाला विनंती करतात की त्यांचं जे काही खोटं मीपण आहे ते दूर करावं, आणि खरा तूच माझ्या अंतरात येऊन रहा. शेवटी ते स्वतःची कोणतीही योग्यता सांगत नाहीत, तर फक्त एवढंच मागतात की देवानं आपल्याच अधिकारानं, आपल्या इच्छेनं त्यांचं रक्षण करावं, तुकारामांनी काही कमावलं म्हणून नव्हे.
Where this applies
- No-upāya. Helplessness.
- When-and-by-what. Question.
- True-stays. Inner-shift.
- Your-sattā. Grace-claim.