Abhanga 2727
Being here, we cannot be aloof by ahankāra (pride); just by this weight, groaning-groaning. Run, release me quickly — I, Hari, have become powerless. Bewildered, I appear like-the-bound, carrying my own on me. Tukā: I have run-in-direction — now come forward quickly.
The verse
असोनि न कीजे अलिप्त अहंकारें । उगी च या भारें कुंथाकुंथी ॥१॥
धांवा सोडवणें वेगीं लवकरी । मी तों जालों हरी शक्तिहीन ॥ध्रु.॥
भ्रमल्यानें दिसें बांधल्याचेपरी । माझें मजवरी वाहोनियां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे धांव घेतलीसे सोईं । आतां पुढें येई लवकरी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Being-here, na kīje alipta ahankārē — one cannot make oneself alipta (non-attached) by ahankāra (pride). Ugī chi yā bhārē kumthākumthī — just by this weight, kumthākumthī (groaning-groaning). Dhāmvā soḍavaṇē vegīm lavakarī — run, release me quickly, fast; mī tōm jālōm Harī śakti-hīna — I have become śakti-hīna (powerless), Hari. Bhramalyānē disē bāndhalyāñce parī — bewildered, I appear like-the-bound (one); mājhe maja-varī vāhōniyā — carrying my-own on-myself. Tukā says: I have dhāmva ghētalīsē soīm (run-in-direction); ātām puḍhe yēī lavakarī — now come forward quickly.
What it means
A short candid-petition verse. Asōnī na kīje alipta ahankārē — ugī chi yā bhārē kumthākumthī — being here, one cannot make oneself aloof-by-pride; just by this weight, groaning-groaning. The honest naming: alipta-by-ahankāra is impossible — being-here (in samsāra) is itself a weight that produces kumthākumthī (the doubled-groaning of carrying the load). Pride-aloofness is a pretense that fails under-the-weight.
The dhrūpada is the urgent-petition: dhāmvā soḍavaṇē vegīm lavakarī — mī tōm jālōm Harī śakti-hīna — run, release me quickly, fast — I have become powerless, Hari. The honest śakti-hīna (powerless) confession — the bhakta cannot do the release-work himself. The urgency: vegīm lavakarī — quickly, fast.
The second verse names the state: bhramalyānē disē bāndhalyāñce parī — mājhe maja-varī vāhōniyā — bewildered, I appear like-the-bound; carrying my-own on-myself. The peculiar image: the bhakta carries his own bondage on his own back. He is not bound-by-external-chains; he is bewildered (bhramalā) and therefore appears (disē) bound — carrying his own on himself. The bondage is his own load placed on his own shoulders by his own confusion.
The close: dhāmva ghētalīsē soīm — ātām puḍhe yēī lavakarī — I have run-in-direction (toward you); now come forward quickly. The bhakta has done his part (dhāmva ghētalīsē); the Lord should do his part (puḍhe yēī). The implicit covenant: I've run-toward; you come-forward.
For someone today
A useful candid-petition for when alipta-by-pride has failed. Being here, we cannot pretend aloofness by pride; we groan under the weight. Run, release me quickly — I am powerless. Bewildered, I appear bound — but I'm carrying my own load on myself. I have run toward you — now come forward quickly. The honest-naming of carrying my own on myself is precise: the bondage is often self-imposed by confusion; the running-toward is the bhakta's-half of the work; the coming-forward is the Lord's-half. The petition asks for the Lord's-half to be honored after the bhakta's-half has been done.
Where this applies
- Honest naming that aloof-by-pride doesn't work — we groan under the weight
- Recognizing the carrying-my-own-on-me bewilderment-state
- The split-of-work: I-run-toward, you-come-forward
- The candid śakti-hīna (powerless) confession