Abhanga 2201
When you see that clinging to your own life and to endless mine-versus-yours quarrels brings no peace, let that worry go and simply exist quietly in remembrance of God.
The verse
आपुला तो देह आम्हां उपेक्षीत । कोठें जाऊं हित सांगों कोणा ॥१॥ कोण नाहीं दक्ष करितां संसार । आम्हीं हा विचार वमन केला ॥ध्रु.॥ नाहीं या धरीत जीवित्वाची चाड । कोठें करूं कोड आणिकांचें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे असों चिंतोनियां देवा । मी माझें हा हेवा सारूनियां ॥३॥ ॥२॥
Literal translation
Our own body is neglected by us — where to go, to whom to tell our good? No one is dakṣa in conducting samsāra — we have vomited this consideration. No fondness for jīvatva is held — where shall I do fondness for others? Tuka says: let me exist, contemplating the Lord — putting aside this 'I-mine' contention. ॥3॥ ॥2॥
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आपुला तो देह आम्हां उपेक्षीत | "our own body is neglected by us" |
| कोठें जाऊं हित सांगों कोणा | "where to go, to whom to tell our good" |
| कोण नाहीं दक्ष करितां संसार | "no one is dakṣa (skilled) in conducting samsāra" |
| आम्हीं हा विचार वमन केला | "we have vomited this consideration" |
| नाहीं या धरीत जीवित्वाची चाड | "no fondness for jīvatva is held" |
| कोठें करूं कोड आणिकांचें | "where shall I do fondness for others" |
| तुका म्हणे असों चिंतोनियां देवा | "Tuka says — let me exist, contemplating the Lord" |
| मी माझें हा हेवा सारूनियां | "putting aside this 'I-mine' contention" |
| ॥३॥ ॥२॥ | double-colophon — verse-count + sub-cluster closure |
What it means
Vomited-samsāra-consideration + putting-aside-I-mine-contention abhang. Ends with ॥३॥ ॥२॥ — double-colophon (verse-count and sub-cluster closure).
The opening — neglected-body: āpulā tō dēha āmhām upēkṣīta — kōṭhē jāūm hita sāngōm kōṇā — our own body is neglected by us — where to go, to whom to tell our good. Our-own-body is-neglected by-us; where-to-go, to-whom-to-tell-our-hita?
The signature image — vamana kēlā: kōṇa nāhīm dakṣa karitām samsāra — āmhīm hā vichāra vamana kēlā — no one is dakṣa in conducting samsāra — we have vomited this consideration. Dakṣa = skilled, capable. Vamana = vomit. No-one is-skilled in-conducting-samsāra; we-have-vomited this-very-consideration. Tukārām's-signature visceral image: the samsāra-consideration as-something-vomited-out. (= ejected as-foul-matter.) Echoes 2175's body-for-bhōga-management-apart-from-honor.
The jīvatva: nāhīm yā dharīta jīvitvāchī chāḍa — kōṭhē karūm kōḍa āṇikāñchē — no fondness for jīvatva is held — where shall I do fondness for others. No-fondness-for-jīvatva (= one's-own-living-status) is-held; where-then for-others'? Echoes 2175's dēhāchī chāḍa nāhīm exactly.
The closing — Lord-contemplation, I-mine-aside: Tukā mhaṇē asōm chintōniyām Dēvā — mī mājhē hā hēvā sārūniyām — Tuka says: let me exist, contemplating the Lord — putting aside this 'I-mine' contention. Hēvā = contention, rivalry, struggle. Let-me-exist contemplating-the-Lord; putting-aside the 'I-mine' contention.
The double-colophon ॥३॥ ॥२॥ unusual in this segment: the first ॥३॥ likely marks the verse-count (3 verses + dhruva); the second ॥२॥ marks a 2-abhang sub-cluster closure pairing 2200-2201 (the trapped → vomited pair: trapped-in-snare → vomit-out-the-samsāra-consideration).
[T]
For someone today
For today: own body neglected — where to go, to whom; no one is dakṣa in samsāra — vomited this consideration; no fondness for jīvatva — no fondness for others; Tuka says — exist contemplating Lord — put aside I-mine contention.
Where this applies
- When you realize you have been neglecting your own health or wellbeing while managing everyone else's life
- When you feel there is no one skilled enough around you to trust with running ordinary household or family affairs
- When you notice you are exhausted from constant possessiveness over what is mine versus what is yours
- When you decide to stop obsessing over outcomes and simply rest in quiet remembrance of God instead