Abhanga 2097
God serves and stays inseparable from those who ask nothing of him, because bhakti itself is greater than God, it is God's own God.
The verse
कांहीं न मागती देवा । त्यांची करूं धांवे सेवा ॥१॥ हळूहळू फेडी ॠण । होऊनियां रूपें दीन ॥ध्रु.॥ होऊं न सके वेगळा । क्षण एक त्यां निराळा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे भक्तिभाव । हा चि देवाचा ही देव ॥३॥
Literal translation
Those who don't ask Deva — he runs to do their sēvā. Slowly-slowly pays off the debt — becoming a dīna-form. Can't be separate — even for one moment, apart. Tuka says: bhakti-bhāva — this is Deva's-own-Deva.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कांहीं न मागती देवा | "those who don't ask Deva" |
| त्यांची करूं धांवे सेवा | "he runs to do their sēvā" |
| हळूहळू फेडी ॠण | "slowly-slowly pays off the debt" |
| होऊनियां रूपें दीन | "becoming a dīna-form" |
| होऊं न सके वेगळा | "can't be separate" |
| क्षण एक त्यां निराळा | "even for one moment, apart" |
| तुका म्हणे भक्तिभाव | "Tuka says — bhakti-bhāva" |
| हा चि देवाचा ही देव | "this is Deva's-own-Deva" |
What it means
Lord-serves-non-askers + bhakti-bhāva-is-Deva's-Deva abhang.
The opening role-reversal: kāhīm na māgatī Dēvā — tyāñchī karūm dhāmvē sēvā — those who don't ask Deva — he runs to do their sēvā. Those-who-don't-ask, he-runs-to-serve.
The debt-paying as dīna: haḷū-haḷū phēḍī ṛṇa — hō'ūniyām rūpē dīna — slowly-slowly pays off the debt — becoming a dīna-form. The Lord-pays-off the bhakta's-debt slowly, even taking-a-dīna-form. A remarkable inversion: the Lord-as-dīna pays-the-bhakta's-bills.
The inseparable: hō'ūm na sakē vēgaḷā — kṣaṇa ēka tyām nirāḷā — can't be separate — even for one moment, apart. Cannot-be-separate even-for-a-moment.
THE CLIMACTIC LINE: Tukā mhaṇē bhakti-bhāva — hā chi Dēvāchā hī Dēva — Tuka says: bhakti-bhāva — this is Deva's-own-Deva. Bhakti-bhāva IS the Deva-of-the-Deva (= what-the-Lord-himself-bows-to is the bhakta's-bhāva). One of Tukārām's most-quoted theological lines: bhakti is-superior to-the-Lord-himself; bhakti is-Deva's-Deva.
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For someone today
For today: those who don't ask Deva — he runs to do their sēvā; slowly-slowly pays off the debt — becoming a dīna-form; can't be separate — even for one moment, apart; Tuka says — bhakti-bhāva — this is Deva's-own-Deva.
Where this applies
- When you give without expecting anything back and someone unexpectedly comes through for you
- When you feel overlooked despite holding a quiet, undemanding faith
- When you wonder whether love and devotion matter more than the object they are directed at
- When you want to understand Tukaram's teaching that devotion outranks even God himself