Abhanga 2665
Wicked conduct — my mind is the witness (gvāhī); I know my own guṇa-dōṣa (qualities-and-faults).
The verse
दुष्ट आचरण ग्वाही माझें मन । मज ठावे गुण दोष माझे ॥१॥
आतां तुम्ही सर्वजाण पांडुरंगा । पाहिजे प्रसंगाऐसें केलें ॥ध्रु.॥
व्याह्याजांवायांचे पंगती दुर्बळ । वंचिजे तो काळ नव्हे कांहीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आतां जालों शरणागत । पुढिल उचित तुम्हां हातीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Wicked conduct — my mind is the witness (gvāhī); I know my own guṇa-dōṣa (qualities-and-faults). Now you, all-knower Pāṇḍurangā — do as the prasanga (occasion) requires. In the pankti (eating-row) of vyāhyā-jāmvāyā (in-laws-and-sons-in-law), the durbaḷa (poor-relative) — to deceive him takes no time. Tukā says: now I have become śaraṇāgata (refuge-taken); the future uchita (right-thing) is in your hand.
What it means
A short refuge-prayer that does not pretend to qualifications. Duṣṭa āchaṇa gvāhī mājhē mana — maja ṭhāvē guṇa-dōṣa mājhē — wicked conduct — my mind is the witness; I know my own qualities-and-faults. The bhakta declines to claim virtue he does not have; he names his own guṇa-dōṣa with internal-witness-testimony.
The dhrūpada: ātām tumhī sarva-jñā Pāṇḍurangā — pāhijē prasangāaisē kelē — now you, all-knower Pāṇḍurangā — do as the occasion requires. The bhakta does not specify what should be done; he hands the case to the sarva-jñā (all-knower) who can read the prasanga (occasion) correctly.
The second verse uses a striking social-image: vyāhyā-jāmvāyāñchyā pankti durbaḷa — vañchijē tō kāḷa navhē kāmhī — in the eating-row of in-laws-and-sons-in-law, the poor-relative — to deceive him takes no time. In a traditional family-feast, the eating-row (pankti) seats the in-laws-and-sons-in-law at the place-of-honor; if a durbaḷa (poor relative, weak-relative) is also seated, the durbaḷa is easy to vañchijē (deceive, cheat) — pass over, give less, ignore. The bhakta places himself in this durbaḷa-position: easy to overlook, easy to cheat. The petition is implicit: don't overlook the durbaḷa-relative at the feast.
The close: jālōm śaraṇāgata — puḍhila uchita tumhām hātī — I have become refuge-taken; the future uchita (right-thing) is in your hand. Uchita — what is fitting, appropriate, right. The bhakta has handed-over the determination of what is right to the Lord's hand.
For someone today
When you need to take refuge without pretending to qualifications, the verse offers a clean structure: my mind is my witness; I know my own guṇa-dōṣa; you, the all-knower, do what the occasion requires; I am the poor-relative in the family-feast who is easy to overlook; I have become refuge-taken; what's right in the future is in your hand. The social-image of the vyāhyā-jāmvāyā-pankti-durbaḷa is exact: in any prestigious gathering, the poor-relative is the one most easily passed-over. Tukārām places himself there honestly, asking the host not to overlook him precisely because he is easy to overlook.
Where this applies
- Honest refuge-prayer that does not pretend to qualifications
- The social-self-image of being the durbaḷa in the in-law-row, easy to overlook
- Handing-over the future uchita (right-thing) to the protector
- The I am my own witness honesty of declared guṇa-dōṣa