Abhanga 2813
You can keep working and running a household while your heart stays wholly devoted, doing worldly duty out of obligation rather than attachment, trusting your life is held by God.
The verse
करीं धंदा परि आवडती पाय । प्रीती सांगों काय नेणां देवा ॥१॥
रूप डोळां देखें सदा सर्वकाळ । संपादितों आळ प्रपंचाचा ॥ध्रु.॥
नेमून ठेविली कारया कारणीं । आमुचिये वाणी गुण वदे ॥२॥
मनासीं उत्कंठा दर्शनाचा हेवा । नाहीं लोभ जीवा धन धान्य ॥३॥
उसंतितों पंथ वेठीचिया परी । जीवनसूत्र दोरीपाशीं ओढ ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसें करितों निर्वाण । जीव तुम्हां भिन्न नाहीं माझा ॥५॥
Literal translation
Karīm dhandā parī āvaḍatī pāya — I do thedhanda(business) — but the feet are dear; prīti sāngō kāya neṇām Devā — what to say of (my) prīti — would you not know, Deva? Rūpa ḍoḷām dekhem sadā sarva-kāḷa — therūpa— the eye sees, always all-the-time; sampāditōm āḷa prapanchāñcā — I just finish-up theāḷa(round-of-tasks) of prapañca. Nēmūn ṭhevilī kāryā kāraṇī — āmuchiye vāṇī guṇa vadē — (my voice) is fixed to thekārya-kāraṇī(work-business) — our voice speaks (your)guṇa(qualities). Mānāsī utkaṇṭhā darśanāñcā hēvā — the mind hasutkaṇṭhā(longing-eagerness) for darśana; nāhī lōbha jīvā dhana-dhānya — nolōbha(greed) in jīva for wealth or grain. Usantitōm pantha vēṭhīñciyā parī — I clear-the-path likevēṭhī(extorted-labor); jīvana-sūtra dōrī-pāśīm ōḍha — thejīvana-sūtra(life-thread) isōḍha(pulled) at thedōrī(string) (held by you). Tukā says: aise karītōm nirvāṇa — I make suchnirvāṇa(full-stake-decision); jīva tumhām bhinna nāhī mājhā — my jīva is not separate from you.
What it means
A 5-verse householder-bhakti-with-jīva-tied-to-the-feet verse. Karīm dhandā parī āvaḍatī pāya — prīti sāngō kāya neṇām Devā — I do the business — but the feet are dear; what to say of my prīti, Deva? The opening declaration: I do business AND the feet are dear. Both coexist. The bhakta doesn't have to abandon prapañca; his prīti is at the feet even while he works.
The dhrūpada: rūpa ḍoḷām dekhem sadā sarva-kāḷa — sampāditōm āḷa prapanchāñcā — the rūpa, the eye sees always; I just finish-up the prapañca's round-of-tasks. The rūpa (form-of-the-Lord) is sadā-sarva-kāḷa (always all-time) in the eye. Meanwhile, the āḷa (round-of-prapañca-tasks) is being finished-up — almost mechanically.
The second verse: nēmūn ṭhevilī kāryā kāraṇī — āmuchiye vāṇī guṇa vadē — (the voice) is fixed to the work-business — (yet) our voice speaks (your) guṇa. Even within the work, the voice speaks the Lord's qualities.
The third: mānāsī utkaṇṭhā darśanāñcā hēvā — nāhī lōbha jīvā dhana-dhānya — the mind has longing-eagerness for darśana; no greed in jīva for wealth or grain. The mind's-orientation is darśana-utkaṇṭhā; no lōbha for material (compare 2659's kāma-krodha-māyā as mourners).
The fourth: usantitōm pantha vēṭhīñciyā parī — jīvana-sūtra dōrī-pāśīm ōḍha — I clear the path like vēṭhī-labor; the life-thread is pulled at the string (held by you). Vēṭhīñciyā parī — like extorted-labor — the bhakta does the prapañca-work as if it were extracted-from-him (not by genuine-attachment). And the jīvana-sūtra (life-thread) is pulled by the Lord's dōrī (string). (Compare 2791's kite-string-at-self.)
The close: aise karītōm nirvāṇa — jīva tumhām bhinna nāhī mājhā — I make such nirvāṇa (full-stake-decision); my jīva is not separate from you. The full-stake.
For someone today
This verse offers a model for keeping devotion alive while still doing ordinary work. Tukaram says he keeps up his daily business, yet God's feet remain what he truly loves, his eyes hold God's form all the time even as his hands finish the round of household tasks. His voice may be tied up in the business of work, but it still speaks of God's qualities. His mind stays eager for a glimpse of the divine, with no real greed for wealth or grain. He describes clearing his daily path the way a person does forced labor, doing what has to be done, while his life-thread is really being pulled by a string held in God's hand, not his own. He closes with a full commitment: my life is not separate from you. The lesson is that you do not have to leave your job or household behind to be devoted, you can let your heart stay fixed on what matters even while your hands do routine tasks, trusting that something greater is guiding your life.
मराठी: हा अभंग रोजचे काम करत असतानाही भक्ती जिवंत ठेवण्याचा एक आदर्श मांडतो. तुकाराम सांगतात की मी माझा व्यवसाय करतो, तरी देवाचे चरण हेच माझे खरे प्रेम आहेत, हात प्रपंचाची कामे उरकत असतानाही डोळे सतत देवाचे रूप पाहत असतात. माझी वाणी कामाच्या व्यवहारात गुंतलेली असली, तरी ती देवाचे गुणच गाते. मनाला सतत दर्शनाची ओढ लागलेली असते, धन-धान्याचा लोभ जीवाला नसतो. आपला रोजचा मार्ग जणू वेठबिगारीसारखा उरकत असल्याचे ते सांगतात — जे करावेच लागते ते करत असताना, आपल्या जीवनाचा दोरा प्रत्यक्षात देवाच्याच हातातील दोरीने ओढला जातो आहे, स्वतःच्या नव्हे. शेवटी ते पूर्ण समर्पण करतात — माझा जीव तुझ्यापासून वेगळा नाही. यातून हेच शिकायला मिळते की भक्तीसाठी नोकरी किंवा संसार सोडून द्यावा लागत नाही — हात रोजची कामे करत असतानाही मन महत्त्वाच्या गोष्टीवरच स्थिर ठेवता येते, आणि आपले आयुष्य कोणीतरी मोठी शक्ती चालवत आहे असा विश्वास बाळगता येतो.
Where this applies
- When you have to work a job or run a household and worry it pulls you away from spiritual life
- When you feel your daily duties are just obligations, not something you're truly attached to
- When you want your heart to stay fixed on what matters even while your hands do routine tasks
- When you sense you're not living life purely on your own terms, but something greater is guiding you