Abhanga 2615
When one thinks it through — this is hard samsāra; even Brahmā and the like cannot cross by their power.
The verse
करितां विचार तो हा दृढ संसार । ब्रम्हांदिकां पार नुलंघवे सामर्थ्ये ॥१॥
शरण शरण नारायणा मज अंगीकारीं दीना । आलें तें वचनांपासीं माझ्या सामर्थ्य ॥ध्रु.॥
पाठीवरी मोळी तो चि कळवा पायीं तळीं । सांपडला जाळीं मत्स्य जाला तो न्याय ॥२॥
आतां करीन तांतडी लाभाची ते याच जोडी । तुका म्हणे ओढी पायां सोईं मनाची ॥३॥
Literal translation
When one thinks it through — this is hard samsāra; even Brahmā and the like cannot cross by their power. Śaraṇa, śaraṇa, Nārāyaṇa — accept this destitute one. My strength has come to my words. The bundle on the back is itself the bell at the feet — caught in the net, a fish has-become — that is the rule. Now I will hurry — the gain is in this very joining. Tukā says: the mind's direction pulls toward the feet.
What it means
A small, powerful surrender-verse. The opening confession is theologically robust: karitām vichāra tō hā drḍha samsāra — Brahmādikām pāra nulanghavē sāmarthyē — when one thinks it through, this is hard (drḍha = firm, hard) samsāra; even Brahmā etc. cannot cross by their own strength. The implication: do not think self-effort alone will work the crossing. Even the highest cosmic-personae cannot.
The dhrūpada is the classic Vārkarī refuge-cry: śaraṇa śaraṇa Nārāyaṇa — maja angīkārī dīnā — refuge, refuge, Nārāyaṇa — accept this destitute one. The doubled śaraṇa is a formal mark of the refuge-mode. Ālēm tē vachanāmpāsīm mājhyā sāmarthya — my strength has come to my words — i.e., my power is now reduced to the words I am saying. There is no other power-source left.
The fish-in-net image is one of Tukārām's most-quoted: pāṭhīvarī mōḷī tō chi kaḷavā pāyīm taḷīm — sāmpaḍalā jāḷīm matsya jālā tō nyāya — the bundle on the back is itself the call-bell at the feet — caught in the net, the fish has-become, that is the rule. Two images compressed: (a) the mōḷī (bundle) one carries is at the same time the kaḷavā (call-bell, signaling-instrument) at the feet — the very burden is the alarm that summons help; (b) like a fish caught in the net, struggling tightens the trap — the nyāya (rule) is that one stops struggling and accepts the catcher.
The close shifts to resolve: ātām karīna tāmtaḍī — lābhāchī tē yācha jōḍī — ōḍhī pāyā sōīm manāchī — now I will hurry — the gain is in this very joining — the mind's direction is pulling toward the feet. The final verb ōḍhī (pulls, drags, draws) is significant: the mind is being pulled — not arriving by its own initiative.
For someone today
You have noticed that some traps tighten when you struggle. The fish-in-net teaching is precise: the rule is that you have-become caught; that is the rule. Stop running the self-effort theology. Even Brahmā cannot cross samsāra by power. Say the śaraṇa-śaraṇa and let your bundle on the back be the call-bell at the feet — the burden itself becomes the signaling-instrument that summons help. The pull-of-the-mind-toward-the-feet is something happening to you, not something you have to manufacture. Notice it.
Where this applies
- The moment of realizing self-effort cannot work the escape
- A long depression or addiction where struggling has been making it worse
- The fish-in-net surrender-moment in any genuine recovery
- Letting the burden one carries become the summoning-bell