Abhanga 2791
A useful image of letting it fly while keeping the string at yourself. Fix the string at oneself; release the kite into the sky. Own-goods have preservation; the mortgage's debt doesn't sink. The seed-taken-there will sprout — preserve the essence. My worry-free sevā — nothing left separate from Deva. The kite-image is portable: in life-and-relationships, let things fly freely, but keep the essential connecting string at yourself. This is different from either holding-tight (which kills the kite-experience) or fully-letting-go (which loses the kite). Hold-the-string at the self.
The verse
खुंटोनियां दोरी आपणियांपाशीं । वावडी आकाशीं मोकलिली ॥१॥
आपुलिया आहे मालासी जतन । गाहाणाचे ॠण बुडों नेणें ॥ध्रु.॥
बीज नेलें तेथें येईंल अंकुर । जतन तें सार करा याची ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे माझी निश्चिंतीची सेवा । वेगळें नाहीं देवा उरों दिलें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Khuṇṭōniyām dōrī āpaṇiyāmpāśīm — fixing thedōrī(string) atāpaṇiyāmpāśīm(oneself); vāvaḍī ākāśī mōkalilī — thevāvaḍī(kite) is released (mōkalilī) into theākāśa(sky). Āpuliyā āhe mālāsī jatana — one's-own goods (mālā) havejatana(preservation); gāhāṇāñce rṇa buḍōm neṇē — thegāhāṇa(mortgage)'srṇa(debt) doesn'tbuḍōm neṇē(know how to sink). Bīja nele tēthē yēīla ankura — the seed taken-there willankura(sprout); jatana te sāra karā yāñcī — preserve that essence (sāra) of it. Tukā says: mājhī niścintīñcī sevā — myniścintī(worry-free) sevā; vegaḷe nāhī Devā urōm dile — I haven't let anything separate (vegaḷē) remain (urōm) from Deva.
What it means
A short kite-string-at-self image-verse. Khuṇṭōniyām dōrī āpaṇiyāmpāśīm — vāvaḍī ākāśī mōkalilī — fixing the string at oneself — the kite is released into the sky. The image: the kite-flier holds the string-end at his hand (āpaṇiyāmpāśīm = at-self), and releases the kite into the sky. The kite is both free and held. The metaphor: let things fly, but keep the string at yourself.
The dhrūpada: āpuliyā āhe mālāsī jatana — gāhāṇāñce rṇa buḍōm neṇē — one's-own goods have preservation; the mortgage's debt doesn't sink. Mālā-jatana (preservation of goods) and gāhāṇa-rṇa-na-buḍē (the mortgage-debt doesn't sink). The bhakta's-goods are preserved because the string is at himself; the mortgage-debt (the bhakti-rṇa with Deva) stays-active.
The second verse: bīja nele tēthē yēīla ankura — jatana te sāra karā yāñcī — the seed-taken-there will sprout — preserve that essence. The seed-taken-to-the-Lord will produce its ankura (sprout). The jatana (preservation) of the sāra (essence) is the work.
The close: mājhī niścintīñcī sevā — vegaḷe nāhī Devā urōm dile — my niścintī (worry-free) sevā — I haven't let anything separate remain from Deva. The total-integration: nothing-separate. The niścintī (worry-freeness) comes from this no-separation.
For someone today
A useful image of letting it fly while keeping the string at yourself. Fix the string at oneself; release the kite into the sky. Own-goods have preservation; the mortgage's debt doesn't sink. The seed-taken-there will sprout — preserve the essence. My worry-free sevā — nothing left separate from Deva. The kite-image is portable: in life-and-relationships, let things fly freely, but keep the essential connecting string at yourself. This is different from either holding-tight (which kills the kite-experience) or fully-letting-go (which loses the kite). Hold-the-string at the self.
मराठी: स्वतःजवळ दोरी ठेवून पतंग उडवण्याची ही एक उपयुक्त प्रतिमा आहे. दोरीचं एक टोक स्वतःजवळ बांधून ठेव; पतंग आकाशात मोकळा सोड. स्वतःचा माल जपला जातो; गहाणाचं कर्ज बुडत नाही. जिथे बी पेरलं जातं तिथे अंकुर येईलच — त्याचं सार जपून ठेव. माझी निश्चिंत सेवा — देवापासून काहीही वेगळं ठेवलेलं नाही. ही पतंगाची प्रतिमा जीवनात आणि नात्यांमध्येही लागू पडते — गोष्टींना मोकळेपणाने उडू दे, पण मूळ जोडणारी दोरी स्वतःजवळ घट्ट धरून ठेव. हे ना पूर्णपणे घट्ट धरून ठेवण्यासारखं आहे, जे पतंग उडवण्याचा आनंदच संपवतं, ना पूर्णपणे सोडून देण्यासारखं, ज्यात पतंगच हातातून निसटतो. दोरी स्वतःजवळच धरून ठेव.
Where this applies
- When you are trying to give someone or something freedom without losing your own grounding connection
- When you worry that time spent in devotion or care is somehow wasted or unaccounted for
- When you have planted an effort, prayer, or intention and are waiting patiently for it to grow
- When you feel anxious and want to understand what it would mean to feel truly worry-free