Abhanga 1725

Claiming devotion costs you nothing and gives the world something real, so let go of possessiveness, the five vices, and even attachment to your own body without hesitation.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Bhakta-did-the-favor + renounced-everything abhang. Striking-inversion: the bhakta did the favor of making the Lord famous.

The opening: tujhēm mhaṇavitām kāya nāsa jālā — aikēm bā Viṭhṭhalā kīrtī tujhī — what loss has come from saying yours? — listen, Viṭhṭhalā, your kīrti. No-loss to-the-bhakta from claiming you; (your kīrti, your fame, comes from us).

The radical-inversion: parī tuja nāhīm āmacē upakāra — nāma-rūpā thāra kēliyācē — but to you, no upakāra from us — we made the nāma-rūpa get place. We did the favor: we gave place-and-currency to your nāma-and-rūpa (= bhaktas establish Lord's-fame in the world; without bhaktas, no nāma-rūpa-circulation).

The renunciation-list:

1. samūḷīm samsāra kēlā dēśa-dhaḍī — at-the-root, samsāra was banished from country. Samsāra exiled from-the-country.
2. sāṇḍilī āvaḍī mamatēcī — abandoned the longing of mamatā. Mamatā-attachment-renounced.
3. lōbha dambha kāma krōdha ahankāra — yāmsī nāhīm thāra — lobha-damba-kāma-krodha-ahankāra — to these, no place. The standard-five-vices given-no-place.
4. mṛttikā pāṣāṇa taisēm kēlēm dhana — āpalē tē kōṇa para nēṇōm — wealth like clay-and-stone — don't know own from other. Wealth-as-meaningless; no-distinction-of-own-vs-other.

The closing: Tukā mhaṇē jālōm dēhāsī udāra — āṇīka vicāra kāya tēthē — Tuka says: became liberal-with-body — what other vicāra is there? Dēhāsī udāra = liberal-with-the-body (= not-clinging-to-body, freely-giving-body). What further-consideration?

The whole abhang is a striking bhakta's-counter-claim: we have done the work of making the Lord famous in the world; we have renounced everything — what could you possibly demand more? Joins 1675's Lord-uses-our-hands and 1707's Lord-becomes-yes-saying-servant in the role-reversal corpus.

[T]

For someone today

For today: what loss has come from my saying I'm yours? — listen, O Viṭhṭhalā — it's your kīrti (we have established); but you have no favor from us-(we have done the favor) — making your nāma-rūpa get place in the world; we banished samsāra at-the-root from our country — abandoned the very-longing of mamatā; lobha-damba-kāma-krodha-ahankāra — these have no place — thus we have made; we treat wealth like clay and stone — don't recognize own from other; Tuka says — we have become liberal even with our body — what other consideration is there?

Where this applies

• When you feel unworthy of claiming a spiritual practice or community as your own
• When you've given up material comforts or attachments for something you believe in and wonder if it counted for anything
• When you're still keeping score between what's mine and what's yours
• When you're weighed down by greed, pride, or anger and want a clear list of what to let go of first

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with