Abhanga 2593
If you take, take unlimited service; if you give, give unlimited too. Where are our full assets? Words alone reach calmness. Becoming present — let that stay far off; settle in the heart when you come. Tukā: your friendship is yours alone — you remain a debtor of love.
The verse
घ्यावी तरी घ्यावी उदंड चि सेवा । द्यावें तरी देवा उदंड चि ॥१॥
ऐसीं कैंचीं आम्ही पुरतीं भांडवलें । आल्या करीं बोलें समाधान ॥ध्रु.॥
व्हावें तरीं व्हावें बहुत चि दुरी । आलिया अंतरीं वसवावें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तुझें सख्यत्व आपणीं । अससील ॠणी आवडीचा ॥३॥
Literal translation
If you take, take service abundantly; if you give, Deva, give abundantly too. Where are our complete assets? When you come into our hand, words alone reach calmness. To-become — let it be far indeed; when you have arrived, dwell within. Tukā says: your friendship is on your own side — you remain a debtor of love.
What it means
This verse plays with the asymmetry of the bhakti exchange. The opening hemistich asks for matched intensity at the two ends — if you take, take abundantly; if you give, give abundantly too. But the dhrūpada admits the truth: aiśīm kāñchīm āmhī puratīm bhāṇḍavalēm — where would such full capital come from for us? The bhakta's side cannot match in substance. Ālyā karīm bōlēm samādhāna — when you come into our hand, only words can bring calmness; words are all we have for our half of the trade. The middle verse names a paradox: let our becoming-present remain far away — but when you arrive, do dwell within. Vasāvāvēm (dwell, take residence) — the bhakta asks the Lord to settle in the heart even if the bhakta cannot be present-as-substance. The closing verse is the masterstroke: tujhēm sakhyatva āpaṇī — your friendship is your own side — meaning, friendship-with-Deva is initiated and held by Deva alone; assasīla rṇī āvaḍīchā — you remain a debtor of love. The Lord, in this Vārkarī logic, owes the bhakta affection; the bhakta owes nothing back because nothing was in his hands to begin with. This is bhakti's quiet financial reversal of the karma-debt economy.
For someone today
When someone has loved you so deeply that you know you cannot repay in kind, do not pretend you can. The honest stance is this verse: your assets are not full; you can offer only bōlēm samādhāna — words enough for calmness — and let the other dwell in your heart. The reversal of debt is the gift: in genuine love, the giver is somehow content to remain rṇī āvaḍīchā — the debtor of love. Accept being loved without scrambling to balance the books; that is what the love is offering you.
Where this applies
- Receiving kindness that you cannot repay in proportion
- Parental love met by adult limitations
- Long mentorships in which the student keeps owing
- Bhakti-relationships in which the Lord seems to give more than is taken