Abhanga 1010

Even without knowing what to do, trust that calling on God's name conquers your inner enemies, and simply wait, ready to obey, for one word of guidance.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A not-tired-but-fear-seems-not-knowing-what-to-do-jana-vana-have-become-equal-kāma-krōdha-gone-in-steps-six-enemies-conquered-by-power-of-your-name-chief-dharma-of-us-servants-obey-with-our-head-what-master-commands-gazing-at-feet-waiting-for-one-word abhang. Waiting-for-one-word register. Five claims:

1. न-कंटाळ — पण-भय — काय-न-कळतां. Not-tired-but-fear-claim. I am notkaṇṭāḷalōm (tired, fed-up);but bhaya (fear) seems—what should be done, not knowing. (Not weariness, but thenot-knowing what to do.)

2. जन-वन-समान — काम-क्रोध-पावटणी. Jana-vana-equal-claim. Jana-vana (people-and-forest, social-and-solitary) have become samāna (equal) to us;kāma-krōdhahave gone inpāvaṭaṇī (steps, gradual descents). (The world-renunciation has worked: jana and vana areequal.)

3. षड-ऊर्मी-शत्रु-जिंतिले — नाम-सत्ता-बळ. Six-enemies-conquered-by-name-claim. Theṣaḍ-ūrmī (six waves — kṣud, pipāsā, śōka, mōha, jarā, mrtyu; or kāma-krōdha-lōbha-mōha-mada-mātsarya) enemies are conquered, O Anamta;by the sattā-baḷa of your nāma.

4. मुख्य-धर्म — स्वामी-शिरसा-पाळावें. Chief-dharma-of-servant-claim. Therefore themukhya (chief) dharma of us sēvakas is this:what the svāmī commands, by (our) śirasā (with our head — i.e. accept-with-bowed-head) we should pālāvē (obey).

5. Tuka: अवलोकुनी-पाय — वचन-वास. Waiting-for-one-word-claim. Tuka says: gazing at (your)pāya;I am watching for the vāsa (waiting, scent-of-arrival) of one vacana (word, command). (One word is enough.)

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For someone today

You are not tired of your practice, but you may still feel afraid because you don't fully know what to do next, and this verse says that is alright. When devotion becomes real, being around people and being alone start to feel the same, and old habits like anger and craving lose their grip. Tukaram claims that simply repeating God's name has the power to overcome even the deepest inner enemies. The duty of someone who has given their life to God is simple: bow your head, do as you are told, and quietly wait, watching for just one word of guidance.

मराठी: तू थकलेला नाहीस, पण पुढे काय करावं हे न कळल्याने भीती वाटणं स्वाभाविक आहे, असं ही ओवी सांगते. खरी भक्ती झाली की माणसांत राहणं आणि एकांतात राहणं सारखंच वाटू लागतं, आणि काम-क्रोधासारख्या जुन्या सवयी हळूहळू गळून पडतात. फक्त नामस्मरणाच्या बळावर मनातले मोठमोठे शत्रू जिंकता येतात, असं तुकाराम सांगतात. जो स्वतःला देवाला वाहून घेतो त्याचं कर्तव्य साधं असतं - मान लववून आज्ञा पाळायची आणि एका शब्दाच्या वाटेकडे शांतपणे बघत राहायचं.

Where this applies

• Fear-of-not-knowing. Not-tired.
• Equal-and-gone. Jana-vana.
• Six-conquered. Nāma-baḷa.
• Servant-dharma. Śirasā.
• Waiting-one-word. Vacana-vāsa.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with