Abhanga 1642
Even if you see yourself as a heap of mistakes, you can still ask boldly for closeness, trusting your tangles can be undone and there's no reason to fear being let in.
The verse
जालों आतां दास । माझे तोडोनियां पाश ॥१॥ ठाव द्यावा पायांपाशीं । मी तो पातकांची राशी ॥ध्रु.॥ सकळ ही गोवा । माझा उगवूनि देवा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे भय । करा जवळी तें नये ॥३॥
Literal translation
Now I have become dāsa — breaking my pāśa. Give a place near (your) feet — I am a heap of pātakas. All the gōvā — of mine — unravel, Devā. Tuka says: fear — of making me near — should not come.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| जालों आतां दास | "now — I have become — dāsa" |
| माझे तोडोनियां पाश | "breaking — my pāśa (noose / bond)" |
| ठाव द्यावा पायांपाशीं | "give a place — near (your) feet" |
| मी तो पातकांची राशी | "I — heap of pātakas" |
| सकळ ही गोवा | "all the gōvā (knot / tangle)" |
| माझा उगवूनि देवा | "of mine — unravel, Devā" |
| तुका म्हणे भय | "Tuka says — fear" |
| करा जवळी तें नये | "to make near — that should not come" |
What it means
Become-dāsa-by-breaking-noose abhang.
The transformation: jālōm ātām dāsa — mājhē tōḍōniyām pāśa — now I have become dāsa — by breaking my pāśa. Pāśa = noose, bond, snare (= of samsāra, of attachment). By breaking my noose, I have become dāsa — the liberation-into-servanthood: not free-and-independent, but free-of-snares-only-to-be-yours.
The place-petition: ṭhāva dyāvā pāyām-pāśīm — mī tō pātakāñcī rāśī — give a place near (your) feet — I am a heap of pātakas. The acknowledgement-of-pāpa combined with petition-for-place: despite my-being-pātaka-heap, give me a place at your feet.
The unravel-petition: sakaḷa hī gōvā — mājhā ugavūni Devā — all my gōvā (= knot, tangle) — unravel, Devā. Gōvā = the entangled-thread / the knotted-mass. Untangle all my knots.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē bhaya — karā javaḷī tēm nayē — Tuka says: fear — of making me near — should not come. (= don't fear bringing-me-close (because of my pātaka-heap-status).) The bhakta anticipates the Lord's-hesitation and removes-the-fear in advance.
[T]
For someone today
For today: now I have become your servant — by breaking my own noose; give me a place near your feet — even though I am a heap of pātakas; unravel all my knots and tangles, Devā; Tuka says — let no fear of bringing-me-near come to you.
Where this applies
- When you feel too flawed or guilty to approach someone you love or a community you want to belong to.
- When you're trying to break free of a bad habit or attachment and want to redirect that freedom toward something meaningful.
- When your life feels tangled with problems and you need to ask for help untangling them rather than solving everything alone.
- When you assume someone will reject you because of your past and you want to face that fear instead of hiding.