Abhanga 1252
This abhang reads like a release letter, the wife-devotee finally letting go of trying to manage her situation herself. She curses whatever keeps blocking her path to God and declares that his feet are the only real profit she has ever earned from all her striving. She asks for a strange gift, a growing distaste for everything else in life, food, pleasures, worldly comforts, so that nothing competes anymore with her longing for him. Then she formally hands the whole burden back, saying let it rest on your own head now, I am done performing the expected conduct of the world. The lesson is that sometimes real surrender means openly refusing to keep managing a life that is not working, and asking instead to lose your taste for everything that isn't love.
The verse
जळोत तीं येथें उपजविती अंतराय । सायासाची जोडी माझी तुमचे पाय ॥१॥ आतां मज साहे येथें करावें देवा । तुझी घेई सेवा सकळ गोवा उगवूनि ॥ध्रु.॥ भोगें रोगा जोडोनियां दिलें आणीकां । अरुचि ते हो कां आतां सकळांपासूनि ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे असो तुझें तुझे मस्तकीं । नाहीं ये लौकिकीं आतां मज वर्तनें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Burn those (kāmas) that produce antarāya here — my effort-gain is your feet. Now do whatever I can bear here, Deva — I'll take your sevā, unraveling all gōvā. With bhoga I joined roga and gave to others — let aruci come now from all. Tuka says: let your (load) stay on your own head — there's no laukika-vartana for me anymore.
मराठी: इथें अंतराय उत्पन्न करणारीं — जळोत — माझ्या सायासाची जोडी तुमचे पाय. आतां मला जें साहे तेच इथें करा, देवा — मी तुझी सेवा घेईन — सर्व गोवा उगवून. भोग आणि रोग जोडून दुसर्यांना दिले — आतां सकळांपासून अरुचि येऊन दे. Tukā म्हणे — असो — तुझें — तुझ्याच-च मस्तकीं — आतां माझ्यासाठीं लौकिक-वर्तन नाहीं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जळोत तीं येथें उपजविती अंतराय | "burn (jaḷōta) those that produce antarāya (obstacles) here" |
| सायासाची जोडी माझी तुमचे पाय | "my sāyāsa-jōḍī (effort-gain) is your feet" |
| आतां मज साहे येथें करावें देवा | "now do what I can bear here, Deva" |
| तुझी घेई सेवा सकळ गोवा उगवूनि | "I'll take your sevā — unraveling (ugavūnī) all gōvā (entanglement)" |
| भोगें रोगा जोडोनियां दिलें आणीकां | "with bhoga, joining roga, (I) gave to others" |
| अरुचि ते हो कां आतां सकळांपासूनि | "let aruci (distaste) come now — from all" |
| असो तुझें तुझे मस्तकीं | "let your (load) stay on your own head" |
| नाहीं ये लौकिकीं आतां मज वर्तनें | "no more laukika (worldly) vartana (conduct) for me now" |
What it means
Sāsuravāsa 6 of 8 — release-letter abhang.
The bhakta is writing a release-letter: - Burn the antarāya-producers — the works/objects/people that block the bhakta from Hari - Sāyāsa-jōḍī (effort-gain) is your feet — the only profit I count is your feet - Aruci tē hō kām ātām sakaḷānpāsūnī — let aruci (distaste, the body's nauseated-no-thank-you to food) come from all (sakaḷān-pāsūnī). The bhakta requests aruci as a gift — distaste for everything else. - Asō tujhē tujhē mastakīm — let your (load/responsibility) stay on your own head. The Marathi idiom tujhē mastakīm (on your head) is the formal I-pass-this-back-to-you — the bhakta returns Hari's load to him. - Nāhīm yē laukikīm ātām maja vartanē — no more laukika-vartana for me now — I withdraw from the worldly conduct-economy entirely.
The cumulative gesture: the bhakta has stopped trying to manage the sāsuravāsa, returned the load to Hari's head, and asked for aruci-from-everything as the only remaining boon.
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For someone today
This abhang reads like a release letter, the wife-devotee finally letting go of trying to manage her situation herself. She curses whatever keeps blocking her path to God and declares that his feet are the only real profit she has ever earned from all her striving. She asks for a strange gift, a growing distaste for everything else in life, food, pleasures, worldly comforts, so that nothing competes anymore with her longing for him. Then she formally hands the whole burden back, saying let it rest on your own head now, I am done performing the expected conduct of the world. The lesson is that sometimes real surrender means openly refusing to keep managing a life that is not working, and asking instead to lose your taste for everything that isn't love.
मराठी: हा अभंग जणू एक सोडचिठ्ठी आहे — पत्नी-भक्त शेवटी स्वतःच सगळं सांभाळण्याचा प्रयत्न सोडून देते. जे काही तिच्या देवाकडे जाण्याच्या वाटेत अडथळा आणते त्याला ती शिव्या देते, आणि सांगते की तिच्या सगळ्या धडपडीतून तिला खरा फायदा फक्त त्याच्या पायांचाच झाला आहे. ती एक विचित्र वर मागते — जगातल्या इतर सगळ्या गोष्टींची, अन्नाची, सुखांची, ऐहिक सोयींची अरुची यावी, जेणेकरून त्याच्याविषयीच्या ओढीशी आता कशाचीच स्पर्धा राहू नये. मग ती सगळा भार औपचारिकपणे परत सोपवते, म्हणते आता हा भार तुझ्याच डोक्यावर राहू दे, मी आतां जगाला अपेक्षित असं वागणं सोडून देते. यातून शिकवण अशी की खरी शरणागती म्हणजे कधी कधी न चालणारं आयुष्य सांभाळण्याचा हट्ट उघडपणे सोडून देणे, आणि प्रेमाशिवाय इतर सगळ्याची गोडी हरवावी अशी मागणी करणे.
Where this applies
- When you are exhausted from trying to manage a situation that keeps blocking what truly matters to you
- When you notice worldly pleasures and distractions no longer hold the appeal they once did
- When you want to formally hand a burden back to God or fate instead of carrying it alone any longer
- When you decide to stop performing what others expect of you and simply be honest about where your heart is