Abhanga 1629
For today: put the burden on Deva — there's no need to take the entire-country on your own head; the body is under your prārabdha — strain only grows with effort-of-bearing; your business is just the instrumental-cause — the fruit is given by your accumulated-karma; Tuka says — turning around and around in effort, your very breath digests itself away.
The verse
भार घालीं देवा । न लगे देश डोईं घ्यावा ॥१॥ देह प्रारब्धा अधीन । सोसें अधिक वाढे सीण ॥ध्रु.॥ व्यवसाय निमत्ति । फळ देतसे संचित ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे फिरे । भोंवडीनें दम जिरे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Put the burden on Deva — no need to take the country on the head. Deha is under prārabdha — by sōsa, the sīṇa only grows. Business is nimitta — the fruit, samcita gives. Tuka says: turning — by the spinning, the breath digests itself.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| भार घालीं देवा | "put burden — on Deva" |
| न लगे देश डोईं घ्यावा | "no need — to take — country — on head" |
| देह प्रारब्धा अधीन | "deha — under prārabdha" |
| सोसें अधिक वाढे सीण | "by bearing-effort — increases — strain" |
| व्यवसाय निमत्ति | "business — is nimitta" |
| फळ देतसे संचित | "fruit — gives — samcita" |
| तुका म्हणे फिरे | "Tuka says — turning" |
| भोंवडीनें दम जिरे | "by spinning — breath — digests-itself" |
What it means
Anti-effort + put-burden-on-Deva abhang.
The opening: bhāra ghālīm Devā — na lagē dēśa ḍō'īm ghyāvā — put the burden on Deva — no need to take the country on the head. Dēśa ḍō'īm ghyāvā — folk-idiom: to take the country / land on one's head (= to assume responsibility for the entire country / world's-affairs). Don't make yourself the responsible-head-bearer of everyone's-burden — put it on Deva.
The deha-prārabdha: dēha prārabdhā adhīna — sōsē adhika vāḍhē sīṇa — deha is under prārabdha — by sōsa (bearing-effort), sīṇa (strain) only grows. The body is determined-by-prārabdha already; trying-harder only adds strain without adding result.
The vyavasāya-claim: vyavasāya nimitti — phaḷa dētasē samcita — business is nimitta — samcita gives the fruit. Vyavasāya = occupation, business, effort; nimitta = mere-instrumental-cause. One's-work is only the apparent-cause; the actual-fruit-giver is one's samcita (accumulated-karma). (Pattern P3: classical-karma-theory cited against personal-effort.)
The closing-image: Tukā mhaṇē phirē — bhōmvaḍīnē dama jirē — Tuka says: turning — by the spinning, the breath digests itself. Phirē = turns, revolves; bhōmvaḍī = whirling, spinning; dama jirē = the breath itself digests-away (= one runs out of breath in the spinning). The image: spinning-around-in-effort, one's own breath gets-used-up; the spinning-itself is its own-undoing. (Folk-image: the dizziness-of-effort defeats itself.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: put the burden on Deva — there's no need to take the entire-country on your own head; the body is under your prārabdha — strain only grows with effort-of-bearing; your business is just the instrumental-cause — the fruit is given by your accumulated-karma; Tuka says — turning around and around in effort, your very breath digests itself away.
Where this applies
- When you feel like you have to personally hold together everyone's problems and burdens
- When you are pushing yourself harder and harder but only getting more exhausted, not more results
- When you are anxious about outcomes at work that are really shaped by forces beyond your control
- When frantic effort leaves you dizzy and out of breath instead of actually getting you anywhere