Abhanga 2634
The powerful's place is firmly-stored; the weak puts hope forward. I will receive this dāna into my apron; let us eat in private, let me show. No need to wait for the proper-occasion — the unsought time has been mastered. Tukā: after the stomach is full, with words of praise, let us worship Deva.
The verse
समर्थाचा ठाव संचलाचि असे । दुर्बळाची आस पुढें करी ॥१॥
पावलें घेईंन पदरीं हें दान । एकांतीं भोजन करूं दाऊं ॥ध्रु.॥
न लगे पाहावी उचिताची वेळ । अयाचित काळ साधला तो ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे पोट धालिया उपरी । गौरवा उत्तरीं पूजूं देवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
The powerful's place is firmly-stored; the weak one puts forth hope. What has come, I will take into my padara (the corner of the cloth, the apron) — this dāna; let us eat in private, let me-let-it-show. There is no need to look for the proper-occasion — the ayāchita (unsought) time has been mastered. Tukā says: after the stomach is full, with words of praise, let us worship Deva.
What it means
A small verse on the ayāchita (unsought-time) discipline. Samarthāchā ṭhāva samchalā chi asē — durbaḷāchī āsa puḍhē karī — the powerful (samartha) one's place is firmly-stored (samchalā = firmly settled); the weak one puts hope forward. The economy of the verse: the powerful keeps things in storage, the weak puts hope-forward like a beggar's hand.
The dhrūpada: pāvalēm ghēīm padarī hē dāna — ēkāntīm bhōjana karūm dāūm — what has come — I will take it into my padara (apron-corner); let us eat in private, let me show. Padara — the corner of the cloth that women use to gather offerings — receiving without elaborate ceremony, just into the cloth. Ēkāntīm bhōjana — eat in private — without spectacle.
The middle verse: na lagē pāhāvī uchitāchī vēḷa — ayāchita kāḷa sādhalā tō — no need to look for the proper-occasion — the unsought time has been mastered. Ayāchita (unsought, uninvited) — the technical Vedic-Vārkarī concept of the ayāchita-vrtti — accepting what comes without asking, without rejecting. The verse claims the bhakta has mastered this mode.
The close: pōṭa dhāliyā uparī — gauravā uttarīm pūjūm Devā — after the stomach is full — with words of praise, let us worship Deva. The sequence is natural: first be-fed, then praise. Praise comes after sustenance, not as the price of admission.
For someone today
There is a small discipline tucked into this verse — the ayāchita-kāḷa (unsought-time) mastery. Don't wait for the uchita-vēḷā (proper-occasion); the unsought-time is the proper occasion when it arrives. Take what comes into your padara without elaborate ceremony, eat in private, and then — after the stomach is full — offer praise with words. The praise is genuine because the receiving has actually happened. The verse refuses two anxious mistakes: waiting for the proper-occasion that never arrives, and offering praise before being-fed-as-bribe.
Where this applies
- Receiving grace at unexpected times without postponing it to a proper occasion
- The ayāchita-vrtti (accepting what comes unasked) discipline
- The natural sequence of being-fed then praising — not praise as a price
- The padara (apron-corner) receipt — humble, immediate, unceremonious