Abhanga 2793
Devotion is steady daily labor, small effort repeated faithfully piles up into real results, though a lasting foundation still requires genuine effort and hardship.
The verse
मजुराचें पोट भरे । दाता उरे संचला ॥१॥
या रे या रे हातोहातीं । काय माती सारावी ॥ध्रु.॥
रोजकीर्दी होतां झाडा । रोकडा चि पर्वत ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे खोल पाया । वेचों काया क्लेशेसीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Majurāñce pōṭa bharē — themajura(laborer)'s belly fills; dātā urē samchalā — thedātā(giver) remainssamchalā(accumulated, stored-up). Yā re yā re hātōhātīm — come, come — hand-to-hand; kāya mātī sārāvī — whatmātī(dirt) is to besārāvī(cleared, removed)? Rōja-kīrdī hōtām jhāḍā — therōja-kīrdī(daily-account, daily-tally) being made (jhāḍā = audit); rokaḍā chi parvata — cash-down — a mountain. Tukā says: khōla pāyā — vechōm kāyā klēśesīm — for thekhōla pāyā(deep foundation) — spend the body withklēśa(effort, hardship).
What it means
A short economic-bhakti-image verse. Majurāñce pōṭa bharē — dātā urē samchalā — the laborer's belly fills; the giver remains accumulated. The construction-site image: the laborer (majura) gets his daily-wage and his belly fills; the giver (dātā, the patron) — his wealth-stays-accumulated despite the daily-payments. The bhakti-economy parallel: bhakti-laborers get fed-daily; the bhakti-giver-Lord remains unfilled despite the giving.
The dhrūpada: yā re yā re hātōhātīm — kāya mātī sārāvī — come, come, hand-to-hand — what dirt is to be cleared? The cheerful-call: come do the work hand-to-hand. The image is of digging-a-foundation — what mātī is to be cleared (out of the trench)? (Bhakti-equivalent: come do the work; let's clear the dirt-of-samsāra together.)
The second verse: rōja-kīrdī hōtām jhāḍā — rokaḍā chi parvata — the daily-tally being audited — a cash-down mountain. Rōja-kīrdī (daily-account) being settled produces a rokaḍā parvata — a mountain of cash-down (settled, immediate) results. The bhakti-claim: daily-bhakti-accounts produce a cash-down result-mountain.
The close: khōla pāyā — vechōm kāyā klēśesīm — for the deep foundation, spend the body with effort. The image: for a deep-foundation (such as a tall-building requires), spend the body with klēśa. Bhakti-foundation requires body-spending-with-effort.
For someone today
A useful economic-image verse. The laborer's belly fills; the giver accumulates. Come, come, hand-to-hand — what dirt to clear? Daily-tally being made — a cash-down mountain. For the deep foundation, spend the body with effort. The structural-claim: bhakti is hand-to-hand labor, paid daily; the result accumulates as cash-down-mountain; the deep-foundation requires spending the body in effort. The verse permits a working-image of bhakti — not as quietism but as daily-labor that pays.
मराठी: एक उपयुक्त आर्थिक प्रतिमेचा अभंग. मजुराचं पोट भरतं; देणारा साठलेलाच राहतो. या रे, या रे, हातोहाती — काय माती काढायची आहे? रोजचा हिशोब होत असताना — रोख रकमेचा डोंगर उभा राहतो. खोल पायासाठी, कष्टाने शरीर झिजवावं लागतं. रचनेतला दावा असा — भक्ती म्हणजे हातोहाती चालणारं, रोज मोबदला मिळणारं श्रम; त्याचा परिणाम रोख रकमेच्या डोंगरासारखा साठत जातो; आणि खोल पायासाठी कष्टाने शरीर झिजवावं लागतं. हा अभंग भक्तीची एक कार्यशील प्रतिमा देतो — निष्क्रियता नव्हे, तर रोजचं श्रम जे फळ देतं.
Where this applies
- The hand-to-hand-bhakti-economy analogy
- Recognizing that the giver-accumulates while the laborer's-belly-fills
- The daily-tally cash-down mountain image
- For the deep foundation, spend the body with effort