Abhanga 2064

Even when God's ways seem confusing or unfair, the answer is not to win arguments about it but to hold on to your devotion no matter what.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

We-know-your-tricks + won't-release-feet-with-jīva abhang.

The opening — knowing-the-tricks: āmhī bhāva jāṇōm Dēvā — na kaḷatī tujhiyā māvā — gaṇikēchā kuḍhāvā — patanā nyāvā Daśaratha — we know your bhāva, Deva — your māyās don't fool us — gaṇikā's pull-down — Daśaratha taken to downfall. We-know your-bhāva; your-māyās can't-trick-us — citing examples: gaṇikā's-pull-down (= mythological-reference) and Daśaratha-taken-to-downfall (Daśaratha's broken-vow-from-Kaikēyī leading to-Rāma's-exile).

The how-to-reach: tarī myām kāya gā karāvē — kōṇyā rītī tuja pāvē — then what should I do — by what way reach you?. Yet — how-do-I-reach-you?.

The two-paths: dōnī phākaliyā vāṭā — gōvī kēlā ghaṭā-paṭā — two paths split — binding made into ghaṭa-paṭa. Ghaṭa-paṭa = the philosophical-debate using-pot-and-cloth-as-examples. Two-paths splits; the philosophers debate-the-pot-and-cloth.

The closing — won't-release-feet: Tukā mhaṇē mājhē ḍōḷē — tujhē dēkhatī hē chāḷē — ātām yēṇē vēḷē — charaṇa jīvē na sōḍīm — Tuka says: my eyes see your tricks — now this very time — won't release the feet with my jīva. My-eyes see-your-tricks; now-I-won't-release-your-feet, even-with-my-life-at-stake.

[T]

For someone today

For today: we know your bhāva, Deva — your māyās don't fool us — gaṇikā's pull-down — Daśaratha taken to downfall; then what should I do — by what way reach you?; two paths split — binding made into ghaṭa-paṭa debate; Tuka says — my eyes see your tricks — now this very time — won't release the feet with my jīva.

Where this applies

• When life feels unfair or confusing and you wonder why hardship falls on people who seem undeserving
• When you honestly do not know the right way to draw closer to something sacred and feel lost about where to start
• When you get pulled into endless debate or theorizing instead of simply doing the thing that matters
• When everything around you feels uncertain but you decide to hold on to your commitment anyway

Related verses

• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4497 — Tukaram describes a life so soaked in devotion that Krishna's presence fills every ordinar