Abhanga 2708
A useful honest-disclaimer for those whose mind has been long-habituated to vyavasāya (business, occupation). I cannot be always-alert; my mind is trained otherwise; I have placed my whole bundle at the feet but still writhe in qualities-and-faults; your calls reach my earlobe but I am between hearing and not-hearing; don't squeeze me in this middle. Sleep, waking, deep-sleep — you are the witness, not I. The release in the closing is that witnessing is not the bhakta's job — it is Śrīpati's. The bhakta can place the moṭa (whole-bundle) at the feet and let the sākṣī (witness-position) belong to the Lord.
The verse
आम्ही सर्वकाळ कैंचीं सावधानें । वेवसायें मन अभ्यासलें ॥१॥
तरी म्हणा मोट ठेविली चरणीं । केलों गुणागुणीं कासावीस ॥ध्रु.॥
याचे कानसुळीं मारीतसे हाका । मज घाटूं नका मधीं आतां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे निद्रा जागृति सुषुप्ति । तुम्ही हो श्रीपती साक्षी येथें ॥३॥
Literal translation
How can we be sarva-kāḷa sāvadhānē (always-alert)? The mind has been abhyāsalēm (habituated, trained) by vēvasāya (business, occupation). So say — the moṭa (bundle, pulley-bag) has been ṭhevilī charaṇī (placed at the feet); I struggle (kāsāvīsa) in guṇa-aguṇī (qualities-and-non-qualities). His earlobe shouts calls (kānsuḷī mārītasē hākā); don't squeeze me in the middle now. Tukā says: niḍrā jāgrti suṣupti (sleep, waking, deep-sleep) — you, Śrīpati, are the sākṣī (witness) here.
What it means
A short honest-disclaimer verse. Āmhī sarva-kāḷa kaiñcī sāvadhānē — vēvasāyē mana abhyāsalēm — how can we be always-alert? The mind has been habituated to vyavasāya (business). The bhakta does not pretend to constant-alertness; he acknowledges that the mind has been trained for business over a lifetime, and that habit-doesn't-undo quickly.
The dhrūpada: tarī mhaṇā moṭa ṭhevilī charaṇī — kelōm guṇa-aguṇī kāsāvīsa — so say — the moṭa (bundle) has been placed at the feet; I struggle in qualities-and-non-qualities. Moṭa is the pulley-bag used to lift water from wells, or generally a bundle. Ṭhevilī charaṇī — placed at the feet. The bhakta has consigned his whole-bundle to the feet, even though he keeps kāsāvīsa (writhing-in-struggle) over guṇa-aguṇī (qualities and faults).
The second verse: kānsuḷī mārītasē hākā — maja ghāṭūm nakā madhīm ātām — his earlobe shouts calls (the calls hit the earlobe = the calls come close to being heard but are not penetrating); don't squeeze me in the middle now. The image: the Lord's calls reach the bhakta's earlobe but not the inner-mind; therefore the bhakta is between (madhīm) hearing-and-not-hearing. Don't squeeze me in this middle-state.
The close: niḍrā jāgrti suṣupti — tumhī hō Śrīpati sākṣī yēthē — sleep, waking, deep-sleep — you, Śrīpati, are the witness here. The three classical-states of consciousness; the Lord is the sākṣī (witness) through all of them. The bhakta does not have to maintain witness-position himself; the witness-position is the Lord's.
For someone today
A useful honest-disclaimer for those whose mind has been long-habituated to vyavasāya (business, occupation). I cannot be always-alert; my mind is trained otherwise; I have placed my whole bundle at the feet but still writhe in qualities-and-faults; your calls reach my earlobe but I am between hearing and not-hearing; don't squeeze me in this middle. Sleep, waking, deep-sleep — you are the witness, not I. The release in the closing is that witnessing is not the bhakta's job — it is Śrīpati's. The bhakta can place the moṭa (whole-bundle) at the feet and let the sākṣī (witness-position) belong to the Lord.
Where this applies
- Honest acknowledgment of the vyavasāya-habituated-mind limit-of-vigilance
- Placing-the-moṭa-at-the-feet — handing-over the entire bundle
- Recognizing the Lord as the sākṣī of all three states (sleep/waking/deep-sleep)
- The middle-state of calls-reach-the-earlobe-but-not-the-inner-mind