Abhanga 2637
The verse offers a relational argument in prayer that is uniquely bhakti-shaped: your reputation depends on how your bhakta appears. If the protector lets the bhakta appear kīvilavāṇē, it is the protector's lacking — tuja chi hē uṇē. This is not adversarial; it is the language of someone whose entire-life is tuja adhīna — dependent on you. The honor of the protector and the wellbeing of the bhakta have become a single account. When you must pray a dependency-prayer, you can use this structure: whatever I ask, I ask of you; whatever I cling to, I cling at your feet; if I appear pitiable, that reflects on your generosity, not on me.
The verse
उदार तूं हरी ऐसी कीर्ति चराचरीं । अनंत हे थोरी गर्जतील पवाडे ॥१॥
तुझे लागों पायीं माझा भाव पुसी जन्ममरणां ठाव । देवाचा तूं देव स्वामी सकळा ब्रम्हांडा ॥ध्रु.॥
मागणें तें तुज मागों जीवभाव तुज सांगों । लागों तरी लागों पायां तुमच्या दातारा ॥२॥
दिसों देसी कीविलवाणें तरी तुज चि हें उणें । तुका म्हणे जिणें माझें तुज अधीन ॥३॥
Literal translation
You are generous, Hari — such fame in the charācara (moving-and-non-moving creation). The infinite thōrī (greatness) — pavāḍē (proclamations) thunder forth. My bhāva at your feet wipes the ṭhāva (place) of birth-and-death — you are Deva of Deva, the master of all brahmāṇḍa. What we ask, we ask of you; the jīva-bhāva we tell to you; if we cling, we cling at your feet, dātāra (Giver). If you let me appear kīvilavāṇē (pitiable, miserable-looking), that is your lacking — Tukā says: my life is dependent on you.
What it means
The opening verse establishes the reputation-claim: udāra tūm Harī — aisī kīrti charācarīm — you are generous, Hari — such fame in the moving-and-non-moving. Charācara — moving (chara) and non-moving (achara) — includes everything in the cosmos. Ananta hē thōrī — garjatīla pavāḍē — infinite is the greatness — the pavāḍās (declamations, hero-praises) thunder forth. The pavāḍā is a specific Marathi heroic-praise-genre; Tukārām says the cosmos itself thunders the Lord's praises in this form.
The dhrūpada: tujhē lāgōm pāyī — mājhā bhāva pusī janma-maraṇām ṭhāva — Devāchā tūm deva — svāmī sakaḷā Brahmāṇḍa — my bhāva, attached at your feet, wipes the place of birth-and-death; you are Deva of Devas, master of all brahmāṇḍa. The mechanism is named: bhāva attached at the feet erases the ṭhāva (place, location) of birth-and-death. The bhakta's bhāva — when located at the feet — eliminates the existence-location-coordinates of birth-and-death.
The middle verse names the dependency: māgaṇē tē tuja māgōm — jīva-bhāva tuja sāngōm — lāgōm tarī lāgōm pāyām tumchyā dātārā — what we ask, we ask of you; we tell jīva-bhāva to you; if we cling at all, we cling at your feet, Giver. The pattern is the tūm-chi-mājhā template — singular addressee for all categories: asking, telling, clinging.
The close has a memorable line: disōm dēsī kīvilavāṇē — tarī tuja chi hē uṇē — if you let me appear pitiable — then this is your own lacking. The argument: the bhakta's wretched appearance reflects on the protector. If the bhakta is kīvilavāṇē (pitiable-looking), it is your deficit, not the bhakta's. This is a relational-honor argument: your reputation as udāra-Hari is at stake when I appear pitiable.
The seal: jiṇē mājhē tuja adhīna — my life is dependent on you. The complete dependency-declaration.
For someone today
The verse offers a relational argument in prayer that is uniquely bhakti-shaped: your reputation depends on how your bhakta appears. If the protector lets the bhakta appear kīvilavāṇē, it is the protector's lacking — tuja chi hē uṇē. This is not adversarial; it is the language of someone whose entire-life is tuja adhīna — dependent on you. The honor of the protector and the wellbeing of the bhakta have become a single account. When you must pray a dependency-prayer, you can use this structure: whatever I ask, I ask of you; whatever I cling to, I cling at your feet; if I appear pitiable, that reflects on your generosity, not on me.
Where this applies
- A complete praise-and-dependency declaration prayer
- The relational-honor argument — the bhakta's state reflects on the protector
- Tuja adhīna — life-dependent-on-you — as a foundational orientation
- The bhakti claim that bhāva-at-the-feet wipes birth-and-death from its place