Abhanga 1772
For today: we are strong — servants of the almighty Lord — and we have girded ourselves for battle against this dark age itself. No mortal can match us there; we have already crossed the hardest part of the struggle. By turning worldly life itself into an offering, we have won the true treasure — we have defeated the six wicked inner enemies: desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride, and envy. Tuka says: only one thing remains worth holding onto — Hari — everything else we have made as worthless as a blade of grass.
The verse
बळिवंत आम्ही समर्थाचे दास । घातली या कास कळिकाळासी ॥१॥ तेथें मानसाचा कोण आला पाड । उलंघोनि जड गेलों आधीं ॥ध्रु.॥ संसाराचे बळी साधिलें निधान । मारिले दुर्जन षडवर्ग ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे एक उरला धरिता ठाव । येर केले वाव तृणवत ॥३॥
Literal translation
We are strong — the dāsa of the samartha — we have tied this kāsa for kalikāla. There, no mānasa can match us — we have crossed the heavy first. Through the samsāra-bali we have attained the nidhāna — killed the durjana ṣaḍa-varga. Tuka says: one place to hold remains — the rest we have made empty like a blade-of-grass.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| बळिवंत आम्ही समर्थाचे दास | "we are strong — the dāsa-of-the-samartha (= the mighty-one)" |
| घातली या कास कळिकाळासी | "we have tied — this kāsa (= waist-cloth-for-fight) — for kalikāla (= the dark-age, time-of-death)" |
| तेथें मानसाचा कोण आला पाड | "there — of mānasa (mortal-man) — who came — in measure (= who can match)" |
| उलंघोनि जड गेलों आधीं | "crossing — the heavy — we have gone — already, first" |
| संसाराचे बळी साधिलें निधान | "through the samsāra-bali (= the sacrifice-of-samsāra) — we attained the nidhāna (= treasure)" |
| मारिले दुर्जन षडवर्ग | "killed — the durjana (the wicked-six) — the ṣaḍa-varga (= the six-internal-enemies: kāma-krodha-lobha-moha-mada-mātsarya)" |
| तुका म्हणे एक उरला धरिता ठाव | "Tuka says — one — remains — the place to hold (= Hari)" |
| येर केले वाव तृणवत | "the rest — we have made — empty — like a blade-of-grass (tṛṇavata)" |
What it means
Ṣaḍa-varga-victory + warrior-bhakta abhang. A fierce, victorious-warrior register: the bhakta as the strong-servant of the samartha-Lord who has defeated the inner-enemies.
The opening: baḷivanta āmhī samarthācē dāsa — ghātalī yā kāsa kaḷikāḷāsī — we are strong — the dāsa of the samartha — we have tied this kāsa for kalikāla. Kāsa = the cloth-tied-around-waist for fighting / wrestling (= girding-up-for-battle); kaḷikāla = the dark-age / kalikāla as personification of time-of-death. We have girded-up to take-on kalikāla itself.
The mānasa-line: tēthēm mānasācā kōṇa ālā pāḍa — ulamghōni jaḍa gēlōm ādhīm — there, no mānasa can match us — we have crossed the heavy first. Pāḍa = measure, equality; jaḍa = the heavy (= the heavy-difficulties, the obstacle-mass). Ordinary-mortal cannot stand up to us; we have already-crossed the heavy-difficulties.
The treasure-attainment line: samsārācē baḷī sādhilēm nidhāna — māritē durjana ṣaḍa-varga — through the samsāra-bali we attained the nidhāna — killed the durjana ṣaḍa-varga. Samsārācē baḷī = the sacrifice-offered-of-samsāra (= we made samsāra into a bali / sacrificial-offering); nidhāna = treasure, hidden-stock; ṣaḍa-varga = the six-internal-enemies: kāma (lust), krōdha (anger), lōbha (greed), mōha (delusion), mada (pride), mātsarya (envy) — the classical-vedānta-classification of inner-foes. By offering samsāra-itself as bali, we attained the nidhāna and killed the six-enemies. (Striking — samsāra-becomes-the-sacrificial-victim, not the sacrificer.)
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē ēka uralā dharitā ṭhāva — yēra kēlē vāva tṛṇavata — Tuka says: one place to hold remains — the rest we made empty like a blade-of-grass. Dharitā ṭhāva = the place-to-hold (= the only place to grasp / hold-on-to = Hari); tṛṇavata = like-a-blade-of-grass (= trifling, valueless, empty). Only Hari remains as the place-to-hold; everything-else has been-made-empty, valueless-like-a-blade-of-grass.
This abhang is in Tukaram's fierce-warrior-bhakta register: the defeated-the-ṣaḍa-varga, conquered-samsāra, only-Hari-remains triumphant-tone. (Pairs with other warrior-bhakta abhangs in the gatha.)
[T]
For someone today
For today: we are strong — servants of the almighty Lord — and we have girded ourselves for battle against this dark age itself. No mortal can match us there; we have already crossed the hardest part of the struggle. By turning worldly life itself into an offering, we have won the true treasure — we have defeated the six wicked inner enemies: desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride, and envy. Tuka says: only one thing remains worth holding onto — Hari — everything else we have made as worthless as a blade of grass.
मराठी: आजसाठी: आम्ही बलवंत आहोत — समर्थ प्रभूचे दास — आणि या कलिकाळाशी लढण्यासाठी आम्ही कंबर कसली आहे. तिथे कोणताही सामान्य माणूस आमच्याशी बरोबरी करू शकत नाही — सर्वात कठीण भाग आम्ही आधीच पार केला आहे. संसारालाच बळी देऊन आम्ही खरा ठेवा मिळवला आहे — काम, क्रोध, लोभ, मोह, मद आणि मत्सर या सहा दुष्ट शत्रूंचा आम्ही नाश केला आहे. तुका म्हणतो: फक्त एकच गोष्ट धरून ठेवण्यासारखी उरली आहे — हरी — बाकी सर्व आम्ही गवताच्या काडीसारखे नगण्य करून टाकले आहे.
Where this applies
- When you are fighting a hard inner battle against anger, greed, or pride and need courage to keep going
- When you have given up so much of your old life that you wonder whether it was worth it
- When you want a reminder that most things people cling to are not actually worth holding onto
- When you need bold confidence that the hardest part of a struggle is already behind you