Abhanga 1924

True surrender can be as unguarded and careless of appearances as a child rolling on the floor.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Daṇḍavata-as-step-below-feet + saints-tell-this-message abhang. Letter-sent-with-saints cluster.

The opening-image: ruḷē mahā-dvārī — pāyām-khālīla pāyarī — at the great-door rolls — the step below the feet. Mahā-dvāra = the great-door of-Pandhari; pāyarī = step (of stairs / threshold). At-the-temple's-great-door, the step rolls below-the-feet (= the step at-the-temple-entrance, where pilgrims-tread, is itself a kind of fallen-rolling-prostration).

The bhakta's-daṇḍavata: taisē mājhē daṇḍavata — sāngā niropa hā santa — such (be) my daṇḍavata — saints, tell (Lord) this message. Like-that-step-rolling, my prostration; saints, deliver-this-message. (= the bhakta-asks-the-saints to-deliver his-prostration as-a-message.)

The body-let-fall: paḍē daṇḍa-kāṭhī — dēha bhalatī-savā lōṭī — (let) the staff-stick fall — push the body anywhere. Daṇḍa-kāṭhī = staff; bhalatī-savā = anywhere. Let-the-body-fall-like-a-staff; push-it-anywhere.

The closing-image: Tukā mhaṇē bāḷa — lōḷē na dharitām sāmbhāḷa — Tuka says: the child rolls without any care. The infant-child rolls-around-the-floor without-care; the bhakta-as-child rolls-at-Pandhari with-no-self-concern.

This abhang has the beautiful daṇḍavata-as-rolling-step image — the bhakta's-prostration becomes the very-step-at-the-temple's-great-door.

[T]

For someone today

For today: at the great-door rolls — the step below the feet; such (be) my daṇḍavata — saints, tell (Lord) this message; (let) the staff-stick fall — push the body anywhere; Tuka says — the child rolls without any care.

Where this applies

• When you feel embarrassed about being vulnerable or unpolished in front of someone you deeply admire
• When you worry about how you look while expressing gratitude, grief, or love
• When you wish you could let go of self-consciousness the way a small child does at play
• When you ask someone you trust to carry your humble respect to someone you cannot reach directly

Related verses

• Abhanga 2464 — For today: Pāṇḍuranga is sukha-rūpa ; no wandering, no shaving, no sādhana-pressure ; Chan
• Abhanga 2490 — The divine is most reachable through the living presence of a true saint, not through a di
• 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