Abhanga 1856
Total devotion can strip away worldly security and old social roles, and that loss of a conventional identity, not wealth or status, is itself the real gain.
The verse
तुम्हां आम्हां तुटी होईंल यावरी । ऐसें मज हरी दिसतसे ॥१॥ वचनाचा कांहीं न देखों आधार । करावा हा धीर कोठवरी ॥ध्रु.॥ सारिलें संचित होतें गांठी कांहीं । पुढें ॠण तें ही नेदी कोणी ॥२॥ जावें चि न लगे कोणांचिया घरा । उडाला पातेरा तुझ्या संगें ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे आम्हां हा चि लाभ जाला । मनुष्यधर्म गेला पांडुरंगा ॥४॥
Literal translation
Between you-and-us, the cut may fall now — thus to me, Hari, it appears. No support of word do I see — how long should I keep patience? Spent the samcita that was in the knot — ahead, no one gives even loan. No need to go to anyone's house — the foundation has lifted off with your company. Tuka says: we have got only this profit — manuṣya-dharma went, Pāṇḍuranga.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| तुम्हां आम्हां तुटी होईंल यावरी | "between you-and-us — the cut may fall — now" |
| ऐसें मज हरी दिसतसे | "thus to me, Hari — it appears" |
| वचनाचा कांहीं न देखों आधार | "no support of word — (do I) see" |
| करावा हा धीर कोठवरी | "how long — should (I) keep patience" |
| सारिलें संचित होतें गांठी कांहीं | "spent the samcita — that was in the knot" |
| पुढें ॠण तें ही नेदी कोणी | "ahead, no one — gives even loan (ṛṇa)" |
| जावें चि न लगे कोणांचिया घरा | "no need to go — to anyone's house" |
| उडाला पातेरा तुझ्या संगें | "the foundation has lifted off — with your company" |
| तुका म्हणे आम्हां हा चि लाभ जाला | "Tuka says — we have got — only this profit" |
| मनुष्यधर्म गेला पांडुरंगा | "manuṣya-dharma went — Pāṇḍuranga" |
What it means
Manuṣya-dharma-gone-by-bhakti-with-you abhang. Part of the 1848-1857 cluster.
The opening: tumhām āmhām tuṭī hō'īla yāvarī — aisē maja Hari disatasē — between you-and-us the cut may fall now — thus to me, Hari, it appears. The break-may-come.
The patience-line: vacanācā kāhīm na dēkhōm ādhāra — karāvā hā dhīra kōṭhavarī — no support of word — how long keep patience?. No-promised-word-fulfilled; how-long-must-I-wait.
The bankruptcy-line: sārilē samcita hōtē gāṇṭhī kāhīm — puḍhē ṛṇa tē hī nēdī kōṇī — spent the samcita in the knot — ahead, no one gives even loan. Samcita = the stored / accumulated-merit. The bhakta has-spent his stored-merit-on-bhakti; ahead, no-one-will-even-loan-him. (= bhakti-has-bankrupted the bhakta in worldly-terms.)
The no-going-to-others line: jāvē chi na lagē kōṇāñciyā gharā — uḍālā pātēra tujhyā sangē — no need to go to anyone's house — the foundation has lifted off with your company. Pātēra = foundation, base; uḍālā = flew up, lifted off. No-need-to-go-to-anyone-anymore — the worldly-foundation has-lifted-off, by-your-company.
The closing-claim: Tukā mhaṇē āmhām hā chi lābha jālā — manuṣya-dharma gēlā Pāṇḍurangā — Tuka says: we have got only this profit — manuṣya-dharma went, Pāṇḍuranga. Striking final-claim: the only-profit of-bhakti is — manuṣya-dharma went. Manuṣya-dharma = the duties / norms / status of-being-human. Bhakti has erased-the-bhakta's-conventional-human-status — that's the profit. (= the bhakta is no-longer-bound by-conventional-social-roles; that's-his-only-gain.)
The implicit-message: bhakti has bankrupted-me-worldly and-erased-my-manuṣya-dharma; that's-the-only-profit. A radical-renunciation declaration.
[T]
For someone today
For today: between you-and-us, the cut may fall now — thus to me, Hari, it appears; no support of word do I see — how long should I keep patience?; spent the samcita in the knot — ahead, no one gives even loan; no need to go to anyone's house — the foundation has lifted off with your company; Tuka says — we have got only this profit — manuṣya-dharma went, Pāṇḍuranga.
Where this applies
- When you feel you've given everything to something you believe in and received nothing back, and your patience is running out.
- When financial or social security is stripped away and you feel abandoned by everyone around you.
- When you realize you no longer need anyone else's approval or favor to feel secure.
- When you wonder what you actually gained from a costly commitment and the answer turns out to be freedom rather than reward.