Abhanga 2058
Devotion asks for your whole self, body, mind, and speech together, held with patience and without shame, in a love as free as a child's.
The verse
आम्हां वैष्णवांचा । नेम काया मनें वाचा ॥१॥ धीर धरूं जिवासाटीं । येऊं नेदूं लाभा तुटी ॥ध्रु.॥ उचित समय । लाजनिवारावें भय ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे कळा । जाणों नेम नाहीं बाळा ॥३॥
Literal translation
For us Vaiṣṇavas — the niyama: body, mind, speech. We'll hold patience at jīva's stake — won't let gain be lost. Proper time — shame and fear should be warded off. Tuka says: the art — we don't know niyama (for the) child.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आम्हां वैष्णवांचा | "for us Vaiṣṇavas" |
| नेम काया मनें वाचा | "the niyama: body, mind, speech" |
| धीर धरूं जिवासाटीं | "we'll hold patience — at jīva's stake" |
| येऊं नेदूं लाभा तुटी | "we won't let gain be lost" |
| उचित समय | "proper time" |
| लाजनिवारावें भय | "shame and fear should be warded off" |
| तुका म्हणे कळा | "Tuka says — the art" |
| जाणों नेम नाहीं बाळा | "we don't know niyama (for the) child" |
What it means
Vaiṣṇava-niyama-body-mind-speech + ward-shame-fear abhang.
The opening — the three-fold niyama: āmhām Vaiṣṇavāñchā — nēma kāyā manē vāchā — for us Vaiṣṇavas — the niyama: body, mind, speech. The Vaiṣṇava-discipline covers all-three: kāyā-mana-vāchā (body, mind, speech).
The patience-at-stake: dhīra dharūm jivā-sāṭīm — yēūm nēdūm lābhā tuṭī — we'll hold patience at jīva's stake — won't let gain be lost. Patience-held with-jīva-as-stake; the gain not-lost.
The proper-time: uchita samaya — lāja-nivārāvē bhaya — proper time — shame and fear should be warded off. At the proper-time, ward-off shame and-fear.
The closing-art: Tukā mhaṇē kaḷā — jāṇōm nēma nāhīm bāḷā — Tuka says: the art — we don't know niyama (for the) child. The art-(of-bhakti) is-not-(rigid)-niyama for-the-child-(bhakta) (= the bhakta-child has more-freedom than-rule-bound-adults).
[T]
For someone today
For today: for us Vaiṣṇavas — the niyama: body, mind, speech; we'll hold patience at jīva's stake — won't let gain be lost; proper time — shame and fear should be warded off; Tuka says — the art — we don't know niyama (for the) child.
Where this applies
- When you're only halfway committed to something meaningful, thinking one thing, saying another, doing a third
- When you're tempted to give up on a practice you care about because it's getting hard or costly
- When you feel embarrassed to show devotion or love openly in front of others
- When you feel boxed in by rules and forget that love can be as simple and free as a child's