Abhanga 1507
When grace or good fortune arrives beyond what you can explain, receive it with wonder and humility instead of claiming it as your own doing.
The verse
काय पुण्यराशी । गेल्या भेदूनि आकाशीं ॥१॥ तुम्ही जालेति कृपाळ । माझा केला जी सांभाळ ॥ध्रु.॥ काय वोळलें संचित । ऐसें नेणें अगणित ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नेणें । काय केलें नारायणें ॥३॥
Literal translation
What puṇya-rāśī went bhēdūnī ākāśīm? You have become kṛpāḷa — of me, sāmbhāḷa was done. What samcita vōḷalēm — like that, agaṇita, I don't know. Tuka says: I don't know — what Nārāyaṇa has done.
मराठी: काय — पुण्य-राशी? — गेल्या — भेदूनि — आकाशीं? तुम्ही — जालेति — कृपाळ; — माझा — केला — जी — सांभाळ. काय — वोळलें — संचित? — ऐसें — नेणें — अगणित. Tukā म्हणे — नेणें; — काय — केलें — नारायणें.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| काय पुण्यराशी | "what — puṇya-rāśī (heaps of merit)" |
| गेल्या भेदूनि आकाशीं | "went (gēlyā) — piercing (bhēdūnī) — into the ākāśa (sky)" |
| तुम्ही जालेति कृपाळ | "you — have become (jālēti) — kṛpāḷa (compassionate)" |
| माझा केला जी सांभाळ | "of me — done — sir (jī) — sāmbhāḷa (= keeping-care / safeguard)" |
| काय वोळलें संचित | "what samcita — turned-toward (vōḷalēm)?" |
| ऐसें नेणें अगणित | "like that — I do not know — agaṇita (= uncountable)" |
| तुका म्हणे नेणें | "Tuka says — I do not know" |
| काय केलें नारायणें | "what — Nārāyaṇa — has done" |
What it means
What-merit-heaps-pierced-the-sky abhang. The opening wonder: kāya puṇya-rāśī — gēlyā bhēdūnī ākāśīm — whatpuṇya-rāśī(heaps of merit) —went—piercing— into theākāśa(sky)? The bhakta's astonishment at being-favored: what merit must have been accumulated and risen-into-the-sky for this to happen? (Striking-image: merit-heaps thatpierce-the-sky.)
The credit-to-Hari: tumhī jālēti kṛpāḷa — mājhā kēlā jī sāmbhāḷa — you (politely) — have becomekṛpāḷa(= compassionate); — of me —sāmbhāḷa(= keeping-care) — was done, sir. (= Hari's compassion is the cause; sāmbhāḷa (kept-care) the action.)
The samcita-wonder: kāya vōḷalēm samcita — aisēm nēṇē agaṇita — whatsamcita—turned-toward(me)? —like that,agaṇita(uncountable), I don't know. What accumulated-merit turned-toward me? — I don't know how it could be so much. (= the bhakta refuses to claim merit as his own; the abundance is wholly mysterious.)
The closing-humility: nēṇē — kāya kēlēm Nārāyaṇē — I don't know —what—Nārāyaṇahasdone. I simply don't know what Hari has done (to bring this about). (= classic grace-as-mystery; cf. 1495's Hari-as-bhakta's-debtor-takes-all-trouble; same gratitude-mode.)
This abhang pairs well with 1506: 1506 announced birth's-fruit truly arrived; Time can no longer exert force; 1507 wonders what merit-heaps pierced the sky to make this so?. The pair: fulfillment + wonder-at-its-cause.
[T]
For someone today
For today: what heaps of merit pierced the sky?; you (Hari) became compassionate and kept care of me; what samcita turned-toward me? — I don't know how so much; I don't know what Nārāyaṇa has done.
Where this applies
- When something good happens to you and you cannot fully explain why you deserved it
- When you catch yourself wanting to take full credit for a stroke of good fortune
- When you look back at your life and feel amazed at how much has quietly gone right
- When you want to respond to unexpected kindness with humility instead of pride