Abhanga 1764
Stop struggling to earn safety through effort or clever knowledge, hand yourself over completely, and hold on to the Name alone, wanting nothing but freedom from illusion's pull.
The verse
तारीं मारीं करीं भलतें दातारा । होऊन तुझा आतां ठेलों रे ॥१॥ बाळकासी चिंता काय पोटवेथा । जया शिरीं मायबाप ॥ध्रु.॥ ओंकाराचें मूळ व्यापिलें माया । तेथें न धरे च भाव । म्हणऊन काबाड सांडिलें उपसतां । धरिलें तुझें चि नांव ॥२॥ आहिक्यें परत्रें चाड नाहीं सर्वथा । जन्म सदा मज देहीं । मायामोहपाश करीं विष तैसें । तुका म्हणे माझ्याठायीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Save or kill — do whatever, dātāra — having become yours, now I have stopped. For the child, what worry, what belly-pain — to whom on the head are mother and father? The root of Omkāra has been pervaded by māyā — bhāva does not hold there. Therefore I abandoned the kābāḍa of upasatām — I have grasped your Name only. No desire for this-world or the next at all — let birth always be for me in this body. Make māyā-moha-pāśa like poison, Tuka says — to my place.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तारीं मारीं करीं भलतें दातारा | "save-or-kill — do whatever — dātāra" |
| होऊन तुझा आतां ठेलों रे | "having-become yours — now — I have stopped" |
| बाळकासी चिंता काय पोटवेथा | "for the child — what worry — belly-pain" |
| जया शिरीं मायबाप | "to whom — on the head — mother-and-father" |
| ओंकाराचें मूळ व्यापिलें माया | "the root of Omkāra — māyā has pervaded" |
| तेथें न धरे च भाव | "there — bhāva — does not hold" |
| म्हणऊन काबाड सांडिलें उपसतां | "therefore — I have abandoned the kābāḍa (= heavy-labor) of upasatām (= dredging-up)" |
| धरिलें तुझें चि नांव | "I have grasped — your Name only" |
| आहिक्यें परत्रें चाड नाहीं सर्वथा | "this-world, the-next — no desire at all" |
| जन्म सदा मज देहीं | "birth — always — for me — in this body" |
| मायामोहपाश करीं विष तैसें | "māyā-moha-pāśa — make like poison" |
| तुका म्हणे माझ्याठायीं | "Tuka says — to my place" |
What it means
Omkāra-mūḷa-vyāpilē-māyā + grasp-only-the-Name abhang.
The opening: tārīm mārīm karīm bhalatēm dātārā — hō'ūna tujhā ātām ṭhēlōm rē — save or kill, do whatever, dātāra — having become yours, now I have stopped. Total-self-surrender: the bhakta has stopped self-effort; whatever the Lord does is acceptable.
The child-image: bāḷakāsī cintā kāya pōṭa-vēthā — jayā śirīm māya-bāpa — for the child, what worry, what belly-pain — to whom on the head are mother and father?. The child whose parents are above-the-head (= protectors-present) has no worry-of-belly (= food-anxiety / survival-anxiety).
The Vedānta-deconstructive turn: Omkārācē mūḷa vyāpilē māyā — tēthē na dharē chi bhāva — mhaṇa'ūna kābāḍa sāṇḍilēm upasatām — dharilēm tujhēm chi nāmva — the root of Omkāra has been pervaded by māyā — bhāva does not hold there. Therefore I abandoned the kābāḍa of upasatām — I have grasped your Name only. Strikingly-deconstructive: even Omkāra — the root-syllable of all jñāna-discourse — has its-very-root pervaded-by-māyā; bhāva (= devotional-feeling) does not hold there. So Tuka abandons the heavy-labor (kābāḍa) of dredging-up (upasatām) through jñāna-margā and grasps the Name (Nāma) only. The anti-elaborate-jñāna + pro-Nāma move.
The closing: āhikyē paratrē cāḍa nāhīm sarvathā — janma sadā maja dēhīm — māyā-mōha-pāśa karīm viṣa taisēm — Tukā mhaṇē mājhyā-ṭhāyīm — no desire for this-world or the next at all — let birth always be for me in this body. Make māyā-moha-pāśa like poison, Tuka says — to my place. Anti-svarga + anti-mukti + pro-deha-bhakti: let me be born again-and-again in this very-body; only let māyā-moha-pāśa become like poison to me (= let me be repulsed by them).
This abhang has one of the gatha's most-striking lines — Omkārācē mūḷa vyāpilē māyā — the root of Omkāra (= the foundational Vedic syllable) has been pervaded by māyā. A deeply-anti-jñāna-mārga line that drives the bhakta back to Nāma-only.
[T]
For someone today
For today: save or kill — do whatever, dātāra — I have become yours; the child has no belly-worry when mother and father are above the head; even the root of Omkāra is pervaded by māyā — bhāva doesn't hold there — so I abandoned all elaborate effort and grasped your Name only; no desire for this-world or the next — let me always be born in this body; make māyā-moha-pāśa become like poison to me, Tuka says — to my place.
Where this applies
- When you are exhausted from trying to control outcomes and are ready to simply trust and let go
- When you feel safe the way a small child feels safe with a parent standing right behind them
- When you have studied hard and complicated ideas about the divine but still feel your heart hasn't moved
- When some old attachment or illusion starts pulling at you again and you want to feel it as harmful, not tempting