Abhanga 2707
Otherwise where is the anubhava (experience) — you have become a Deva who ghara-ghēṇā (takes-the-house, claims-the-house).
The verse
नाहीं तरी आतां कैचा अनुभव । जालासीं तूं देव घरघेणा ॥१॥
जेथें तेथें देखें लांचाचा पर्वत । घ्यावें तरि चत्ति समाधान ॥ध्रु.॥
आधीं वरी हात या नांवें उदार । उसण्याचे उपकार फिटाफीट ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जैसी तैसी करूं सेवा । सामर्थ्य न देवा पायांपाशीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Otherwise where is the anubhava (experience) — you have become a Deva who ghara-ghēṇā (takes-the-house, claims-the-house). Wherever I look, I see lāñchāñca parvata (mountains of bribes); ghyāvē tari chitta samādhāna — if I should take (some), the heart would settle. Ādhī varī hāta yā nāve udāra — the hand-on-top, by this name is udāra (generous); usaṇyāñce upakāra fiṭāphīṭa (borrowed-favors are paid-off-paid-off). Tukā says: we will do jaisī taisī sēvā (whatever-service-we-can); sāmarthya na — Devā pāyāmpāśī (no power at Deva's feet).
What it means
A candid, complex disclaimer-verse. Nāhī tarī ātām kaichā anubhava — jālāsī tūm Deva ghara-ghēṇā — otherwise where is the anubhava — you have become a Deva who takes-the-house. The opening: the bhakta is acknowledging that anubhava (genuine inner-experience of the Lord) has not yet come; the Lord has become a ghara-ghēṇā Deva — one who claims-the-house — meaning, perhaps, the Lord who-has-taken-up-residence in the house but whose anubhava hasn't yet been received, or alternatively the Lord who-has-taken-the-bhakta's-house-entire (compare 2667-2668's Vaiṣṇavas-as-thieves who take everything).
The dhrūpada has a striking ambiguous-image: jēthē tēthē dekhē lāñchāñca parvata — ghyāvē tari chitta samādhāna — wherever I look, I see mountains of bribes; if I should take (some), the heart would settle. Lāñcha (bribe) — the surrounding-world is full of bribes. The honest-confession: if I took some, my heart would settle — admitting the temptation of the surrounding-corruption. (Tukārām is consistent — he refused royal-patronage; here he names the inner-pull he successfully resists.)
The second verse: ādhī varī hāta yā nāve udāra — usaṇyāñce upakāra fiṭāphīṭa — the hand-on-top by this name is udāra (generous); the borrowed-favors are paid-off-paid-off. Ādhi-varī-hāta — the hand-on-top, the giving-hand — only this is what is udāra. Usaṇyāñce upakāra — the borrowed-favors — they are paid-off repeatedly. The verse seems to acknowledge that the udāra-named generosity is a relational-economy of giving-and-being-paid-off — not free-flow.
The close is honest: jaisī taisī karūm sevā — sāmarthya na — Devā pāyāmpāśī — we will do whatever service we can — there is no power at Deva's feet. The bhakta names his lack-of-power. Sāmarthya na — no power — at the Lord's feet. He will simply do whatever-service-he-can (jaisī taisī) without claiming to be powerful.
For someone today
The verse is an unusually-candid disclaimer-prayer. Where is the anubhava? You have become a Deva-who-takes-the-house. Wherever I look there are mountains of bribes; if I took some, my heart would settle. The hand-on-top is what's called udāra; borrowed-favors keep being paid-off. We will do whatever service we can — there's no power here. The honesty is striking: I haven't received the anubhava yet; I see corruption all around me and feel its pull; the giving-economy I'm in is reciprocal-not-free; I have no power and will just do what I can. The verse permits this combination: lack-of-anubhava + temptation + reciprocal-economy + powerless-service. The bhakta does not have to pretend to have arrived to keep showing up.
Where this applies
- An honest disclaimer about wishing for samādhāna in a bribe-saturated environment
- The candid I have no power at Deva's feet — but I will do what service I can
- Recognizing the Deva-who-takes-the-house mode (companion to 2667-8 Vaiṣṇavas-as-thieves)
- The whatever-service-we-can (jaisī taisī) commitment that doesn't require qualifications