Abhanga 2735
Let reverence and service arise naturally in the moment, keep your attention undivided on what matters most, and choose your practice to fit the time you're actually in.
The verse
संतांची स्तुति ते दर्शनाच्या योगें । पडिल्या प्रसंगें ऐसी कीजें ॥१॥
संकल्प ते सदा स्वामीचे चि चित्ती । फाकों नये वृत्ति अखंडित ॥ध्रु.॥
दास्यत्व तें असे एकविध नांवें । उरों नये जीवें भिन्नत्वासी ॥२॥
निज बीजा येथें तुका अधिकारी । पाहिजे तें पेरी तये वेळे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Santāñcī stuti tē darśanāñcyā yōge — paḍiliyā prasangē aisī kīje — praise of the sants is through darśana's conjunctions — as the occasionpaḍilī(has-fallen, presented-itself), thus is to be done. Samkalpa tē sadā svāmīñce chi chittī — resolves are always at the master in the chitta; fākōm nayē vrtti akhaṇḍita — thevrttishould not spread; let it be unbroken. Dāsyatva tē asē ekavidha nāve — servitude has the one-fold name; urōm nayē jīve bhinnatvāsī — let no jīva remain inbhinnatva(difference). Nija bīja yēthē Tukā adhikārī — for thenija bīja(inner seed), Tukā is the authority here; pāhije tē pērī tayē vēḷē — sow what is needed at that time.
What it means
A clean instructional verse on genuine-servitude. Santāñcī stuti tē darśanāñcyā yōge — paḍiliyā prasangē aisī kīje — praise of the sants is through darśana-conjunctions — as the occasion presents-itself, thus is to be done. The principle: sant-praise is not pre-scheduled; it arises paḍiliyā prasangē (when the occasion falls) — at the moment of darśana. The naturalness is the qualification.
The dhrūpada delivers the discipline: samkalpa tē sadā svāmīñce chi chittī — fākōm nayē vrtti akhaṇḍita — resolves are always at the master in the chitta — the vrtti (mind-state) should not spread; let it be unbroken. Samkalpa (resolves) at the master, in the chitta. Vrtti (mind-state) — akhaṇḍita (unbroken). The discipline is no-spreading-of-the-vrtti, no breaking of the continuity.
The second verse: dāsyatva ekavidha nāve — urōm nayē jīve bhinnatvāsī — servitude has the one-fold name — let no jīva remain in difference. Dāsyatva (servitude) is ekavidha (one-fold). And bhinnatva (difference) should not urō (remain). The jīva-difference (which-is-mine, which-is-yours, which-is-his) should be dissolved.
The close: nija bīja yēthē Tukā adhikārī — pāhije tē pērī tayē vēḷē — for the inner-seed, Tukā is the authority here — sow what is needed at that time. Nija-bīja (the inner seed) — the bhakti-seed that needs sowing. Tukā claims authority here. The pāhije tē pērī — sow what is needed — implies discrimination: at tayē vēḷē (at that time), what is pāhije (needed) is sown. Not random, not pre-fixed — fitting-the-time.
For someone today
A clean instruction for genuine-servitude practice. Praise of sants arises at the moment of darśana, when the occasion falls. Resolves are always at the master in the chitta. The vrtti shouldn't spread — let it be unbroken. Servitude is one-fold — no jīva-difference should remain. For the inner-seed, the authority knows what to sow when. The principle of paḍiliyā prasangē aisī kīje — as the occasion presents itself, thus is to be done — is a useful general-discipline: respond to the actual-occasion, not to pre-fixed schedule. And fākōm nayē vrtti akhaṇḍita — let the vrtti not spread; let it remain unbroken — is the practice-discipline.
Where this applies
- When you feel devotion or gratitude arise unexpectedly and wonder whether to act on it right then
- When your attention keeps scattering between many teachers, goals, or distractions instead of staying focused
- When you catch yourself dividing people into 'mine' and 'not mine' in how you serve them
- When you're deciding what spiritual practice to take up and need to match it to where you actually are right now