Abhanga 2657
Forced physical discipline is hard for everyone, but calling on Nārāyaṇa, loosening your grip on desire, doing your daily work honestly, and bowing to every creature is a devotion anyone can practice.
The verse
लय लक्षी मन न राहे निश्चळ । मुख्य तेथें बळ आसनाचें ॥१॥
हें तों असाध्य जी सर्वत्र या जना । भलें नारायणां आळवितां ॥ध्रु.॥
कामनेचा त्याग वैराग्य या नांव । कुटुंब ते सर्वविषयजात ॥२॥
कर्म उसंतावें चालत पाउलीं । होय जों राहिली देहबुद्धि ॥३॥
भक्ति तें नमावें जीवजंतुभूत । शांतवूनि ऊत कामक्रोध ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे साध्य साधन अवघडें । देतां हें सांकडें देह बळी ॥५॥
Literal translation
In laya-lakṣa (dissolution-target, yogic concentration-on-point), the mind does not stay still; the main thing there is force-of-āsana. This is unaccomplishable, sir, for everyone (sarvatra yā janā); much better is calling Nārāyaṇa. Vairāgya by this name is the renunciation of desire (kāmanēchā tyāga); the family (kuṭumba) is all the sense-objects-born. Karma is to be redeemed step-by-step in walking — until deha-buddhi (body-pride) remains. Bhakti is to bow to jīva-jantu-bhūta (living creatures-insects-beings) — cooling the ūta (boil, overflow) of kāma-krōdha (lust-and-anger). Tukā says: end-and-means are both hard — in giving, the constriction (sānkaḍa) is the deha-baḷī (body-sacrifice).
What it means
A 5-verse extended yoga-critique and accessible-bhakti-definition — one of Tukārām's most-quoted comparison texts. The opening verse names the yoga-problem precisely: laya-lakṣīm mana na rāhē niścaḷa — mukhya tēthē baḷa āsanāchē — inlaya(dissolution-meditation) andlakṣya(target-fixing), the mind does not stay still; the main thing there isforce-of-āsana(forcing the body-posture). The critique is not against yoga as such; it is against the mukhya tēthē baḷa āsanāchē — the main-thing-there-is-forced-posture. The discipline becomes primarily-bodily, not primarily-mental.
The dhrūpada: hē tōm asādhya jī sarvatra yā janā — bhalē Nārāyaṇām āḷavitām — this isasādhya(unaccomplishable) for everyone, sir; better is calling Nārāyaṇa. The egalitarian point: yoga-laya-lakṣa is unaccomplishable for everyone (not just for the lazy or unworthy — sarvatra yā janā — all the people, anywhere); the bhalē (good, better) alternative is Nārāyaṇa āḷavitām (calling Nārāyaṇa).
The three operative definitions follow:
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Vairāgya — kāmanēchā tyāga — vairāgya yā nāvē — kuṭumba tē sarva-viṣaya-jāta — renunciation of desire by-this-name-vairāgya; the family is all sense-objects-born. Vairāgya is defined as kāmanā-tyāga (renunciation of desire), and the kuṭumba (family, dependents) one renounces is sarva-viṣaya-jāta (all sense-objects-born). The internal-family is the dependent-attachments to sense-objects.
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Karma — karma usantāvē chālata pāulīm — hōya jōm rāhilī deha-buddhi — karma is to be redeemed (usantāvē = to wear out, to spend out, to amortize) step-by-step (chālata pāulīm = walking-step-by-step) — until deha-buddhi (body-identification) remains. Karma is paid out incrementally as long as deha-buddhi persists. There is no shortcut — only step-by-step amortization through walking-the-path.
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Bhakti — bhakti tē namāvē jīva-jantu-bhūta — śāntavūnī ūta kāma-krōdha — bhakti is to bow to all living-creatures-insects-beings — cooling the boil-overflow of kāma-krodha. The astonishing Vārkarī definition: bhakti is not primarily worship-of-Deva; it is bowing-to-all-creatures. The mechanism: this bowing cools the ūta (boil, overflow) of kāma-krodha (lust-and-anger).
The close: sādhya sādhana avaghaḍē — dēmtām hē sānkaḍē deha-baḷī — the end (sādhya) and the means (sādhana) are both hard; in giving, this is thesānkaḍa(constriction): thedeha-baḷī(body-sacrifice). The honest acknowledgment: even the bhakti-path is hard. The sānkaḍa — the bottleneck-constriction — is the deha-baḷī — body-as-sacrifice. Surrender of the body's-claim-on-being-the-center is what makes the giving narrow.
For someone today
The verse offers one of the clearest Vārkarī definitions of the spiritual-life's parts:
- Yoga of forced-postures is asādhya (unaccomplishable) for everyone — not because of personal-failure but structurally. Calling Nārāyaṇa is the accessible alternative.
- Vairāgya is kāmanā-tyāga — renunciation of desire. And the family of desires-to-renounce is sarva-viṣaya-jāta (all sense-objects-born). The metaphor of kuṭumba (dependents) for sense-objects is striking — you are related-to them.
- Karma is paid step-by-step in walking — there is no jump. Until deha-buddhi (body-identification) remains, karma must keep being amortized.
- Bhakti is bowing to jīva-jantu-bhūta — all creatures. Not just worship-of-Deva — the bowing is to-creatures. And the mechanism is cooling the boil of kāma-krōdha.
- The path is hard — deha-baḷī (body-as-sacrifice) is the bottleneck. The body's claim to being the center of things is what makes the giving narrow.
The whole frame: do not waste your life on what is asādhya for everyone; redirect to Nārāyaṇa-āḷavitām, define vairāgya-karma-bhakti operationally, and accept that the sānkaḍa of body-sacrifice is real.
मराठी: हा अभंग वारकरी परंपरेतील आध्यात्मिक जीवनाच्या विविध अंगांची सर्वांत स्पष्ट व्याख्या देतो —
- जबरदस्तीच्या आसनांचा योग सर्वांसाठीच 'असाध्य' आहे — हे कोणाच्या वैयक्तिक अपयशामुळे नाही, तर मुळातच तसे आहे. नारायणाला हाक मारणे हाच सुलभ पर्याय आहे.
- वैराग्य म्हणजे 'कामनात्याग' — इच्छांचा त्याग. आणि सोडून द्यायच्या इच्छांचे 'कुटुंब' म्हणजे 'सर्वविषयजात' — सर्व इंद्रियविषयांतून जन्मलेले. इंद्रियविषयांना 'कुटुंब' म्हणणे हे रूपक विशेष लक्षणीय आहे — तुम्ही त्यांच्याशी नातेसंबंधात आहात.
- कर्म चालत, पावलोपावली फेडले जाते — त्यात उडी मारता येत नाही. जोवर 'देहबुद्धी' (शरीराशी एकरूपता) राहते, तोवर कर्म फेडतच राहावे लागते.
- भक्ती म्हणजे 'जीवजंतुभूत' — सर्व जीवमात्रांना नमन करणे. फक्त देवाची पूजा नव्हे — नमन सर्व जीवांना करायचे आहे. आणि याची कार्यपद्धती म्हणजे कामक्रोधाचा उतू जाणारा जोश शांत करणे.
- हा मार्ग कठीण आहे — 'देहबळी' (शरीराचा त्याग) हाच अडथळा आहे. शरीराचा स्वतःला केंद्रस्थानी मानण्याचा दावाच हे देणे संकुचित बनवतो.
एकूण चौकट अशी — जे सर्वांसाठीच 'असाध्य' आहे त्यावर आयुष्य वाया घालवू नका; त्याऐवजी नारायणाला हाक मारण्याकडे वळा, वैराग्य-कर्म-भक्ती यांच्या व्यावहारिक व्याख्या करा, आणि देहत्यागाचा हा संकोच खराच आहे हे स्वीकारा.
Where this applies
- The Vārkarī definition of bhakti against yoga-laya-lakṣya practice
- Operational definitions: vairāgya = desire-renunciation; karma = step-by-step-amortization; bhakti = bowing-to-creatures
- Recognizing that bowing-to-creatures cools the kāma-krodha boil (mechanism, not metaphor)
- The honest acknowledgment that deha-baḷī is the path's actual sānkaḍa (bottleneck)