Abhanga 2764
A clean operational-tyāga instruction. Do renunciation thus — drive away ahankāra. Then live as-is, watch what remains. Don't let the inner-uneven-difficult come forward. Pure mind — settled-comfort is needed. The verse is precise: tyāga is not external; it is the removal of ahankāra. The test is śuddha-mana + samādhāna. If you are doing tyāga and your mind isn't śuddha and you don't have samādhāna, you are doing the wrong-tyāga. The right one targets ahankāra.
The verse
त्याग तरी ऐसा करा । अहंकारा दवडावें ॥१॥
मग जैसा तैसा राहें । काय पाहें उरलें तें ॥ध्रु.॥
अंतरींचें विषम गाढें । येऊं पुढें नेदावें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे शुद्ध मन । समाधान पाहिजे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tyāga tarī aisā karā — dotyāga(renunciation) thus; ahankārā davaḍāve — drive awayahankāra(ego, pride). Mag jaisā taisā rāhē — then, livejaisā taisā(as-is, as-it-happens); kāya pāhē uralē te — watch what hasuralē(remained). Antarīñce viṣama gāḍhe — the difficult/uneven (gāḍhe = firmly-set) inside; yēūm puḍhē nēdāve — don't let (it) come forward. Tukā says: śuddha mana — samādhāna pāhije — pure mind —samādhāna(settled-comfort) is needed.
What it means
A clean operational-tyāga verse. Tyāga tarī aisā karā — ahankārā davaḍāve — do tyāga thus — drive away ahankāra. The operational-definition of tyāga (renunciation): the target is ahankāra. Not external-things, not body-comforts — ahankāra. This is the bhakti-pinpointing of tyāga.
The dhrūpada: jaisā taisā rāhē — kāya pāhē uralē te — live as-is, watch what remains. After ahankāra-davaḍāne (driving away ahankāra), live as-is — no need to manufacture-a-new-self — and watch what has remained (kāya uralē). The discovery happens by watching the remainder.
The second verse: antarīñce viṣama gāḍhe — yēūm puḍhē nēdāve — the difficult/uneven inside — don't let (it) come forward. Antarīñce viṣama — the inner-uneven (the difficult-residual states inside). Gāḍhe — firmly-set, dense. Don't let it come forward (yēūm puḍhē nēdāve) — keep it from manifesting. The discipline is to prevent the antarīñce-viṣama from moving-into-action.
The close: śuddha mana — samādhāna pāhije — pure mind — samādhāna is needed. The diagnostic-criterion of successful-tyāga: śuddha-mana (pure-mind) + samādhāna (settled-comfort). If these are present, the tyāga has worked. (Compare 2726's chitta-samādhāna as the test of sva-hita.)
For someone today
A clean operational-tyāga instruction. Do renunciation thus — drive away ahankāra. Then live as-is, watch what remains. Don't let the inner-uneven-difficult come forward. Pure mind — settled-comfort is needed. The verse is precise: tyāga is not external; it is the removal of ahankāra. The test is śuddha-mana + samādhāna. If you are doing tyāga and your mind isn't śuddha and you don't have samādhāna, you are doing the wrong-tyāga. The right one targets ahankāra.
Where this applies
- When you give something up outwardly but still feel proud or superior about having done it
- When irritation or bitterness is building inside you and wants to come out in your words
- When you're tempted to build a new self-image right after letting go of an old habit
- When you want a simple test for whether your inner practice is actually working