Abhanga 2260

Total devotion earns the right to demand total presence in return, even to the point of staking everything on the relationship holding.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Lord-is-our-debtor + dharaṇē-at-the-door + cut-the-link-between-us abhang. A 5+1-verse echo of the kavitvā-buḍavaṇē-dharaṇē.

The debtor-and-deposit: āmachā tūm ṛṇī ṭhāyīñchā chi Dēvā — māgāvayā ṭhēvā ālōm dārā — you are our debtor from the very place — I've come to the door to claim the deposit. Ṛṇī = debtor. Ṭhēvā = deposit. You are-our-debtor from-the-very-place; I've-come-to-the-door to-claim the-deposit. The mercantile-imagination again — the bhakta-as-creditor and-Viṭhṭhal-as-debtor.

The secret-spot-and-feet: varma tujhē āmhām sāmpaḍalē hātīm — dhariyēlē chittīm dṛḍha pāya — your secret-spot has come to our hand — I've held the feet firmly in chitta. Your-varma is-in-our-hand; I've-held-your-feet firmly in-chitta.

THE DHARAṆĒ-AT-THE-DOOR: baisalōm dharaṇē kōṇḍōniyām dvārīm — āntūni bāhērī yē'ōm nēdī — I sat in dharaṇē, blocking the door — from inside, I won't let you come out. I-sat-in-dharaṇē, blocking-the-door; I-won't-let-you (Viṭhṭhal)-come-out from-inside (= from inside the Pandharī-temple). Echoes-and-extends 2234's dārīm dharaṇē baisalōm (sat-at-the-door-as-dharaṇa) — the dharaṇē-pressure-tactic continues-as-a-living-image even-post-kavitvā-buḍavaṇē.

The equality-and-burn-quarrel: tuja maja sarī hō'ila yā vichārē — jaḷō bhāṇḍa-khōrē nilājirīm — you-and-I will be equal by this reasoning — burn the shameless quarreling. You-and-I will-be-equal by-this; burn-the-shameless-quarreling.

The Name-mālā: bhāṇḍavala mājhē miravisī janīm — sahajara vōvanī nāma-māḷā — you wave my capital among people — easily threading the Name-mālā. You wave (= display) my capital among-people; threading-easily the Name-mālā (= Viṭhṭhal publicly-displays-Tukārām's-bhakti-capital, threading-it-as-the-Name-rosary).

The closing — jīva-stake, cut between us: Tukā mhaṇē āmhī kēlī jivē sāṭī — tumhām āmhām tuṭī ghālūm ātām — Tuka says: we have made the jīva-stake — now we'll cut [the link] between us. We've-made-the-jīva-stake (= life-bargain); now (if-needed)-we'll-cut-the-link. The final-pressure: do-not-test-this-bhakta-or-the-relationship-itself-will-break.

[T]

For someone today

For today: you are our debtor from the very place — I came to door to claim deposit; your varma is in our hand — held feet firmly; sat in dharaṇē, blocking door — won't let you out; we'll be equal — burn shameless quarrel; you wave my capital, threading Name-mālā; Tuka says — we made jīva-stake — now cut between us.

Where this applies

• When you love someone so much you refuse to let them walk away without truly showing up for you
• When you feel you have given everything and now demand the relationship match your commitment
• When you find yourself half joking and half deadly serious while confronting someone you love
• When you realize your devotion has become public and you want it honored, not just displayed

Related verses

• 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
• Abhanga 2401 — When liberation already feels secure, the only thing left to want is the sweetness of lovi