Abhanga 1971
True surrender to God costs everything you cling to and may be mocked by others, but the same hand that strips you never lets go until it carries you to liberation.
The verse
नागवूनि एकें नागवीं च केली । फिरोनियां आलीं नाहीं येथें ॥१॥ भेणें सुती कोणी न घेती पालवीं । करूनियां गोवी निसंतान ॥ध्रु.॥ एकें तीं गोविलीं घेऊनि जमान । हांसतील जन लोक तयां ॥२॥ सरले तयांसी घाली वैकुंठीं । न सोडी हे साटी जीवें जाली ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे जालों जाणोनि नेणती । सांपडलों हातीं याचे आम्ही ॥४॥
Literal translation
Stripped some — made them naked-(again) — they didn't return here. For fear — no one takes the pallav — making them issueless-and-bound. Some were bound — taking surety — people will laugh at them. The finished he sends to Vaikuṇṭha — won't release this barter — has become jīva. Tuka says: we became knowing-yet-unknowing — we got caught in his hand.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नागवूनि एकें नागवीं च केली | "stripped some — made them naked-(again)" |
| फिरोनियां आलीं नाहीं येथें | "they didn't return here" |
| भेणें सुती कोणी न घेती पालवीं | "for fear — no one takes the pallav" |
| करूनियां गोवी निसंतान | "making them issueless-and-bound" |
| एकें तीं गोविलीं घेऊनि जमान | "some were bound — taking surety" |
| हांसतील जन लोक तयां | "people will laugh at them" |
| सरले तयांसी घाली वैकुंठीं | "the finished he sends to Vaikuṇṭha" |
| न सोडी हे साटी जीवें जाली | "won't release this barter — has become jīva" |
| तुका म्हणे जालों जाणोनि नेणती | "Tuka says — we became knowing-yet-unknowing" |
| सांपडलों हातीं याचे आम्ही | "we got caught in his hand" |
What it means
Lord-strips-bhaktas-then-sends-them-to-Vaikuṇṭha abhang.
The opening: nāgavūni ēkē nāgavīm chi kēlī — phirōniyām ālīm nāhīm yēthē — stripped some — made them naked-(again) — they didn't return here. Nāgavī = naked, stripped. The Lord-stripped some-bhaktas-completely; they-never-came-back (= didn't-return-to-samsāra).
The pallav-fear: bhēṇē sutī kōṇī na ghētī pālavīm — karūniyām gōvī nisantāna — for fear — no one takes the pallav — making them issueless-and-bound. Pālavīm = the end of a sari/garment; nisantāna = issueless (without descendants). People-fear-the-Lord because he-makes-them-issueless (= no-children) — the wife's-fear-of-childlessness becomes-an-image-of-the-Lord's-stripping.
The surety-binding: ēkē tīm gōvilīm ghē'ūni jamāna — hāmsatīla jana lōka tayām — some were bound — taking surety — people will laugh at them. People-laugh at-those-bound-by-the-Lord.
The Vaikuṇṭha-route: saralē tayāmsī ghālī Vaikuṇṭhīm — na sōḍī hē sāṭī jīvē jālī — the finished he sends to Vaikuṇṭha — won't release this barter, has become jīva. The Lord sends-the-finished-bhaktas to-Vaikuṇṭha; the barter (= jīva-for-Vaikuṇṭha) doesn't release.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē jālōm jāṇōni nēṇatī — sāmpaḍalōm hātīm yāchē āmhī — Tuka says: we became knowing-yet-unknowing — we got caught in his hand. Knowing-yet-not-knowing (jāṇōni-nēṇatī) we-got-caught.
Tukārām's terrifying-comfort to-his-wife: the Lord-strips-bhaktas-completely (= takes-everything-they-have, even-children) but-eventually-sends-them-to-Vaikuṇṭha.
[T]
For someone today
For today: stripped some — made them naked-(again) — didn't return here; for fear no one takes the pallav — making them issueless-and-bound; some bound, taking surety — people laugh at them; the finished he sends to Vaikuṇṭha — won't release this barter; Tuka says — we became knowing-yet-unknowing — we got caught in his hand.
Where this applies
- When you've given up security, comfort, or approval for the sake of a deeper calling and people mock or misunderstand you
- When you feel you've lost too much to turn back and wonder if you made the right choice
- When you're afraid of what full commitment to a path or relationship might cost you
- When you need reassurance that a difficult, total commitment eventually leads somewhere good