Abhanga 2055
The exchange of chanting the Name for receiving love is not a private wish but a fair bargain settled long ago by the whole community of saints.
The verse
आम्ही घ्यावें तुझें नाम । तुम्ही आम्हां द्यावें प्रेम ॥१॥ ऐसें निवडिलें मुळीं । संतीं बैसोनि सकळीं ॥ध्रु.॥ माझी डोईं पायांवरी । तुम्ही न धरावी दुरी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे केला । खंड दोघांचा विठ्ठला ॥३॥
Literal translation
We'll take your Name — you give us prema. This was decided at the root — all the saints sitting (in council). My head on (your) feet — don't keep me at distance. Tuka says: made — the rupture between us-two, Viṭhṭhala.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आम्ही घ्यावें तुझें नाम | "we'll take your Name" |
| तुम्ही आम्हां द्यावें प्रेम | "you give us prema" |
| ऐसें निवडिलें मुळीं | "this was decided at the root" |
| संतीं बैसोनि सकळीं | "all the saints sitting (in council)" |
| माझी डोईं पायांवरी | "my head on (your) feet" |
| तुम्ही न धरावी दुरी | "don't keep me at distance" |
| तुका म्हणे केला | "Tuka says — made" |
| खंड दोघांचा विठ्ठला | "the rupture between us-two, Viṭhṭhala" |
What it means
We-take-Name-you-give-prema + decided-by-saints'-council abhang.
The opening — the bargain: āmhī ghyāvē tujhē Nāma — tumhī āmhām dyāvē prēma — we'll take your Name — you give us prema. The classic exchange: we take-the-Name; you give-us-prema.
The saints'-council: aisē nivaḍilē muḷīm — santīm baisōni sakaḷīm — this was decided at the root — all the saints sitting (in council). This was-decided-from-the-beginning by-the-council-of-all-saints-sitting-together. The saints set-the-bargain-terms — echoes 2016's "take-it-to-the-saints".
The head-on-feet: mājhī ḍōīm pāyāmvarī — tumhī na dharāvī durī — my head on (your) feet — don't keep me at distance. Don't keep-me-at-distance now.
The closing: Tukā mhaṇē kēlā — khaṇḍa dōghāñchā Viṭhṭhalā — Tuka says: made — the rupture between us-two, Viṭhṭhala. Khaṇḍa = cutting, severing, but here = settling-the-divide (cf. the saints settled-the-difference). The saints settled the-divide between Tukārām and Viṭhṭhala.
[T]
For someone today
For today: we'll take your Name — you give us prema; this was decided at the root — all the saints sitting in council; my head on your feet — don't keep me at distance; Tuka says — made — the rupture between us-two, Viṭhṭhala.
Where this applies
- When you wonder whether devotion or effort on your part will actually be met with love or reward
- When you doubt your own private beliefs and want reassurance that a whole community agrees with you
- When you feel distant from someone you love and simply want to be let close again
- When an old conflict or gap between you and someone else has finally been settled by people you both trust