Abhanga 2738
Total devotion that holds nothing back, not even your own life, opens the same secrets the great devotees knew and makes even God answerable to you.
The verse
तरी हांव केली अमुपा व्यापारें । व्हावें एकसरें धनवंत ॥१॥
जालों हरिदास शूरत्वाच्या नेमें । जालीं ठावीं वर्में पुढिलांची ॥ध्रु.॥
जनावेगळें हें असे अभिन्नव । बळी दिला जीव म्हणऊनि ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तरी लागलों विल्हेसी । चालतिया दिसीं स्वामी ॠणी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tarī hāmva kelī amupā vyāpāre — therefore I made unlimitedhāmva(passion, eagerness) in (this) business; vhāve ekasare dhanavanta — to becomedhanavanta(wealthy) at-once. Jālōm Haridāsa śūratvāñcyā nēme — I became Haridāsa by warrior-vow; jālīm ṭhāvīm varmē puḍhilāñcī — thevarma(secret-technique) of those-ahead became known. Janā-vegaḷe hē asē abhinava — this is separate-from-people, fresh; baḷī dilā jīva mhaṇa'ūnī — because I offered the jīva as sacrifice. Tukā says: lāgalōm vilhēsī — I joined thevilhē(proper-route); chālatiyā disī svāmī rṇī — in the proceeding-day, the master is debtor.
What it means
A short covenant-confidence verse. Tarī hāmva kelī amupā vyāpāre — vhāve ekasare dhanavanta — therefore I made unlimited eagerness in (this) business — to become wealthy at-once. The bhakta describes his approach: unlimited eagerness, with the goal of one-stroke wealth (not slow-accumulation but full-arrival).
The dhrūpada: jālōm Haridāsa śūratvāñcyā nēme — jālīm ṭhāvīm varmē puḍhilāñcī — I became Haridāsa by warrior-vow; the secret-techniques of those-ahead became known. The bhakti-vocation is taken-up as a śūratva-nēma (warrior-vow). And the varma (secret-knack) of puḍhilāñcī (the previous sants, those-ahead) becomes accessible by this warrior-route.
The second verse names the distinguishing-feature: janā-vegaḷe hē asē abhinava — baḷī dilā jīva mhaṇa'ūnī — this is separate-from-people, fresh — because I offered the jīva as sacrifice. Janā-vegaḷe (separate-from-people) and abhinava (fresh, new-experience) — the bhakti-vocation Tukārām is naming is not what people do; it is fresh. The reason: baḷī dilā jīva — I have offered the jīva as sacrifice. The baḷī (sacrifice-offering) is the jīva itself.
The close: lāgalōm vilhēsī — chālatiyā disī svāmī rṇī — I have joined thevilhē(proper-route, regular-way); in the proceeding-day, the master is debtor. The covenant-claim: once I have joined the proper-route, the master becomes rṇī — debtor — to me. The Lord has incurred the obligation by my warrior-vow + jīva-sacrifice.
For someone today
A useful covenant-confidence model. I made unlimited eagerness; to become wealthy at-once; I took the warrior-vow as Haridāsa; the secret-techniques of those-ahead became accessible; this is separate-from-people, fresh; because I offered the jīva as sacrifice; I have joined the proper-route; the master is now debtor to me in the proceeding-day. The structure is bold: full-stakes-staking earns the master's-debtor-position. Half-effort produces no covenant; warrior-vow + jīva-sacrifice produces it. The reverse-claim is implicit: if you haven't made the master debtor, you haven't actually staked the jīva.
Where this applies
- When you want to do things halfway and still expect a great result
- When you envy someone else's deep spiritual insight and wonder how they earned it
- When you doubt whether your own faith is committed enough to matter
- When you need reassurance that total, wholehearted devotion is never wasted