Abhanga 1638
A devotion built through long sacrifice becomes a rightful, hereditary claim you can hold with quiet confidence, not something you must timidly beg for.
The verse
हे माझी मिराशी । ठाव तुझ्या पायांपाशीं ॥१॥ याचा धरीन अभिमान । करीन आपुलें जतन ॥ध्रु.॥ देऊनियां जीव । बळी साधिला हा ठाव ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे देवा । जुन्हाट हे माझी सेवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
This is my mirāśī — the place near your feet. I will hold its abhimāna — keep it preserved as my own. Giving life — by sacrifice — I won this place. Tuka says: Devā, this is my junhāṭa-service.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| हे माझी मिराशी | "this — is my mirāśī" |
| ठाव तुझ्या पायांपाशीं | "the place — near your feet" |
| याचा धरीन अभिमान | "of this — I will hold — abhimāna" |
| करीन आपुलें जतन | "will keep — as my own — preserved" |
| देऊनियां जीव | "giving life" |
| बळी साधिला हा ठाव | "by force / sacrifice — won — this place" |
| तुका म्हणे देवा | "Tuka says — Devā" |
| जुन्हाट हे माझी सेवा | "junhāṭa — this — my service" |
What it means
Bhakta-place-at-feet-as-hereditary-mirāśī abhang. Continues the mirāśī-vocabulary of 1630.
The opening: hē mājhī mirāśī — ṭhāva tujhyā pāyām-pāśīm — this is my mirāśī — the place near your feet. Mirāśī = the hereditary-property-rights inherited by birth in Maratha-tradition. The place near your feet is my mirāśī — not earned by current effort, not given as charity, but my own hereditary-property-right.
The defense: yācā dharīna abhimāna — karīna āpulēm jatana — will hold its abhimāna — keep it preserved as my own. Abhimāna = legitimate-pride-of-ownership; jatana = preservation, keeping-care-of. (= as a mirāsdar-defends-his-property, I will hold the abhimāna and keep it preserved.)
The won-by-life: dē'uniyām jīva — baḷī sādhilā hā ṭhāva — giving life — won this place by sacrifice. Baḷī = sacrifice, by-force-of-life-given. I gave my life and won this place (= the place was won-as-my-mirāśī by life-sacrifice — by previous-births of devotion).
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē Devā — junhāṭa hē mājhī sēvā — Tuka says: Devā, this is my junhāṭa-service. Junhāṭa = ancient, hereditary, of long-standing. This is my hereditary-service from ancient-time (= the bhakta-Lord relationship is not new, but hereditary-and-ancient).
This abhang asserts a Maratha-property-rights vocabulary applied to bhakti: the place at the Lord's feet is the bhakta's mirāśī-property; the bhakta is the hereditary-mirāsdar of that place; holding-its-abhimāna and preserving-it is the bhakta's natural-right-and-duty; the service is junhāṭa (ancient). The ancient-hereditary-claim gives the bhakti-relationship a non-negotiable, structural status.
[T]
For someone today
For today: this is my hereditary-property-right — the place near your feet; I will hold its rightful-pride and keep it preserved as my own; I gave life-itself and won this place by sacrifice; Tuka says — Devā, this is my ancient hereditary service.
Where this applies
- When you doubt whether your years of quiet faith or effort actually count for anything.
- When someone questions your right to belong somewhere you've earned through long, hard devotion.
- When you need to hold firmly to something you've built through sacrifice without apologizing for claiming it.
- When you want your commitment to something to feel solid and lasting rather than something that could be taken away any day.