Abhanga 1047

Tukaram asks for the humblest place imaginable: not to be a servant, but the servant of God's servants, and he calls that very humility the blessing he wants most. He then offers what he has to give: the nine paths of devotion, or bhakti, such as listening to God's stories, singing praise, remembering, and simple service, and he asks the saints around him to accept this offering from his own hands. Finally he places his trust entirely in the support of the saints and the divine, trusting that their steady presence, like feet to lean on, will help him truly cross the river of life's struggles and hardship. The lesson is that lasting spiritual progress starts with genuine humility and leaning on others rather than trying to cross difficulties alone.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A make-me-the-servant-of-your-handmaids-and-place-me-give-me-this-very-blessing-the-nine-fold-devotion-that-has-been-spoken-of-accept-it-from-my-hand-saint-people-by-the-support-of-your-feet-I-will-truly-cross-the-river-of-becoming abhang. Cross-bhava-nadī-by-support-of-your-feet register. Three claims:

1. दासी-चा-दास — आशीर्वाद. Dāsa-of-dāsīs-claim. Make me thedāsaof yourdāsīs; give me this veryāśīrvāda. (The humblest possible self-positioning — not even a dāsa, but a dāsa-of-dāsīs — handmaid's-handmaid.)

2. नव-विधा-भक्ति — संत-हातीं-घ्यावी. Nava-vidhā-bhakti-claim. Thenava-vidhābhakti (the nine-fold devotion: śravaṇa, kīrtana, smaraṇa, pāda-sēvana, arcana, vandana, dāsya, sakhya, ātma-nivedana) that has been spoken; accept it from my hand,samta-janī.

3. Tuka: पाय-आधार — भव-नदी-उत्तर. Cross-bhava-nadī-claim. Tuka says: by the support of yourpāya;I will truly cross the bhava-nadī.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram asks for the humblest place imaginable: not to be a servant, but the servant of God's servants, and he calls that very humility the blessing he wants most. He then offers what he has to give: the nine paths of devotion, or bhakti, such as listening to God's stories, singing praise, remembering, and simple service, and he asks the saints around him to accept this offering from his own hands. Finally he places his trust entirely in the support of the saints and the divine, trusting that their steady presence, like feet to lean on, will help him truly cross the river of life's struggles and hardship. The lesson is that lasting spiritual progress starts with genuine humility and leaning on others rather than trying to cross difficulties alone.

मराठी: तुकाराम सर्वात नम्र जागा मागतात, ते फक्त सेवक बनू इच्छित नाहीत तर देवाच्या सेवकांचेही सेवक व्हावे अशी इच्छा व्यक्त करतात, आणि हीच नम्रता त्यांना सर्वात मोठा आशीर्वाद वाटते. त्यानंतर ते आपल्याजवळ जे आहे ते अर्पण करतात, म्हणजे नऊ प्रकारची भक्ती, जसे की देवाच्या कथा ऐकणे, स्तुती गाणे, स्मरण करणे आणि साधी सेवा, आणि संतांनी ही भक्ती आपल्या हातून स्वीकारावी अशी विनंती करतात. शेवटी ते संत आणि देव यांच्या आधारावर पूर्ण विश्वास ठेवतात, त्यांच्या स्थिर आधाराने, जणू पायांचा आधार घेऊन, आयुष्यातील संकटांची नदी खरोखर पार करता येईल असे मानतात. यातून हा धडा मिळतो की खरी आध्यात्मिक प्रगती प्रामाणिक नम्रतेने आणि इतरांच्या आधाराने सुरू होते, एकट्याने अडचणी पार करण्याच्या प्रयत्नाने नाही.

Where this applies

• Dāsa-of-dāsīs. Āśīrvāda.
• Nava-vidhā. Samta-jana.
• Cross-by-feet. Pāya-ādhāra.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2464 — For today: Pāṇḍuranga is sukha-rūpa ; no wandering, no shaving, no sādhana-pressure ; Chan
• Abhanga 2490 — The divine is most reachable through the living presence of a true saint, not through a di
• 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