Abhanga 1344
Use whatever abilities you have to serve the divine rather than yourself, and offering your whole self this way quietly dissolves the anxious grip of a separate self.
The verse
ज्या ज्या आम्हांपाशीं होतील ज्या शक्ति । तेणें हा श्रीपती अळंकारूं ॥१॥ अवघा पायांपाशीं दिला जीवभाव । जन्ममरणाठाव पुसियेला ॥ध्रु.॥ ज्याचें देणें त्यासी घातला संकल्प । बंधनाचें पाप चुकविलें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे येथें उरला विठ्ठल । खाये बोले बोल गाये नाचे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Whatever śaktis are with us — with them, (let me) decorate this Śrīpati. The entire jīva-bhāva — given at the feet — janma-maraṇa-ṭhāva wiped out. To whose giving — (I) placed the sankalpa — bandhana-pāpa avoided. Tuka says: here remains (only) Viṭṭhala — eats, speaks, sings, dances.
मराठी: ज्या-ज्या आमच्या-कडे शक्ति आहेत — त्यांनींच — हा श्रीपति — अळंकार करूं. अवघा जीव-भाव — पायांशीं दिला — जन्म-मरणाचा ठाव — पुसून टाकला. ज्याचें देणें — त्यालाच — संकल्प घातला — बंधनाचें पाप चुकवलें. Tukā म्हणे — येथें — विठ्ठलच उरला — खाये, बोले-बोल, गाये, नाचे.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ज्या ज्या आम्हांपाशीं होतील ज्या शक्ति | "whatever (jyā jyā) śaktis are with us (āmhāmpāśīm)" |
| तेणें हा श्रीपती अळंकारूं | "with them — (let me) decorate (alankāra-) — this Śrīpati" |
| अवघा पायांपाशीं दिला जीवभाव | "the entire (avaghā) jīva-bhāva — given at the feet" |
| जन्ममरणाठाव पुसियेला | "the janma-maraṇa-ṭhāva — has been pusi-vēla (wiped out)" |
| ज्याचें देणें त्यासी घातला संकल्प | "to whose dēṇē (giving) — (I) placed the sankalpa" |
| बंधनाचें पाप चुकविलें | "the bandhana-pāpa — avoided (cukavilēm)" |
| येथें उरला विठ्ठल | "here — (only) remains — Viṭṭhala" |
| खाये बोले बोल गाये नाचे | "eats — speaks (the spoken-word) — sings — dances" |
What it means
Decorate-Śrīpati-with-my-śaktis abhang. Closing image: only-Viṭṭhala-remains-eating-speaking-singing-dancing.
The opening offering-stance: jyā jyā āmhāmpāśīm hōtīla jyā śakti — tēṇē hā Śrīpati aḷankārūm — whatever śaktis (powers / faculties) we have — with them, let usdecorate(alankāra-) this Śrīpati. The body's powers (vāk, dṛṣṭi, śravaṇa, etc.) become ornaments-on-Hari. (Echoes 1321's piṭūniyām musē alankāra — beaten in the crucible, the alankāra emerged.)
The pivot: avaghā pāyāmpāśīm dilā jīva-bhāva — janma-maraṇā-ṭhāva pusiyēlā — the entire jīva-bhāva given at the feet — the janma-maraṇa-ṭhāva (place of birth-and-death) has beenpusi-vēla(wiped out). Pusi-vēla (the ink-pen wipes out the writing) — the cycle-of-birth-and-death has been erased.
The technique: jyācē dēṇē tyāsī ghātalā sankalpa — bandhanācē pāpa cukavilēm — to whose giving (it is) — (I) placed the sankalpa (= the formal-vow / dedication-formula); the bandhana-pāpa was avoided. Compare 1284's avaghē Anantā samarpilēm. Once everything is sankalpa-ed (formally dedicated) to its source, the bandhana-pāpa (the attachment-as-pāpa) is by-passed.
The astonishing closing: yēthē uralā Viṭṭhala — khāyē bōlē bōla gāyē nācē — here remains (only) Viṭṭhala — eats, speaks, sings, dances. This is the jīvan-mukta non-dual statement: in this body, only Viṭṭhala remains; whatever happens through this body — eating, speaking the spoken-word, singing, dancing — is Viṭṭhala doing it. The bhakta has so fully transferred to Viṭṭhala that his everyday actions are Viṭṭhala's actions.
[T]
For someone today
For today: decorate Śrīpati with whatever śaktis you have; give the entire jīva-bhāva at the feet; thesankalpaavoids the bandhana-pāpa; only Viṭṭhala remains — eating, speaking, singing, dancing.
Where this applies
- When you have a talent, a skill, or a voice and wonder what it is truly for
- When you are anxious about your own future and want relief from constantly grasping at outcomes
- When you finish a piece of work and feel torn between taking credit for it and offering it up
- When ordinary daily actions, eating, talking, working, start to feel like they could be done with devotion instead of self-focus