Abhanga 1212

A single unanswered worry, carried honestly and openly, can itself become an act of devotion.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Anxious-bhakta abhang. The single question crowds out everything else: will Hari save me, will he keep my honor? Tuka asks every person he meets — not for an answer, but because the anxiety has nowhere else to go. Avaghiyāncā visara jālā — every other concern has fallen away; only this udēga remains. The closing pathos: kōṇa bhēṭē sāngēsē — "who will I even find to tell?" — the bhakta's loneliness in extremity.

This is the warkari tradition's permission to bring not only love but anxiety to Hari — the mood of vyākulatā (longing-anxiety) is its own valid bhāva.

[T]

For someone today

For today: when only one question burns — will he save me — that single-pointed anxiety is itself a form of bhakti.

Where this applies

• When you are consumed by one worry and cannot think about anything else, however hard you try.
• When you catch yourself asking every person you meet the same anxious question, hoping someone finally has an answer.
• When everything you used to care about has faded from your mind, leaving only this one ache behind.
• When you feel utterly alone with a worry, unable to find anyone who could understand it even if you tried to explain.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2374 — Rather than scattering devotion among many lesser deities who demand offerings, Tukaram sa
• Abhanga 2377 — This detailed meditation on Vitthal standing on a brick at Pandharpur, out of love for his
• Abhanga 2387 — Accept whatever life brings with reverence, and place the burden on God rather than carryi
• Abhanga 2402 — For today: happily take rebirths — IF among the Paṇḍharī-Vārkarīs ; Hari-dāsas' company is