Abhanga 2822
Handing your whole burden of worry over to God in one decisive act can clear the debt of anxiety and bring your body, voice, and mind to genuine peace.
The verse
वदवावी वाणी माझी कृपावंता । वागपुष्प संतां समर्पीशी ॥१॥
सर्वसंकटाचा तुम्हां परिहार । घालावा म्यां भार पांडुरंगा ॥ध्रु.॥
एकसरें चिंता ठेवूनियां पायीं । जालों उतराईं होतों तेणें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे येथें जालें अवसान । काया वाचा मन वेचूनियां ॥३॥
Literal translation
Vadavāvī vāṇī mājhī krpāvantā — make my voice speak, compassionate one; vāg-puṣpa santām samarpīśī — you offervāg-puṣpa(word-flowers) to sants. Sarva-sankaṭāñcā tumhām parihāra — for all-calamities, you are theparihāra(remedy); ghālāvā myām bhāra Pāṇḍurangā — I have placed the burden (on you), Pāṇḍurangā. Ēkasarē chintā ṭhevūnīyām pāyī — at-one-stroke placing chintā at the feet; jālōm utarāī hōtōm tēṇe — (I) have becomeutarāī(paid-off, cleared-of-debt) by that. Tukā says: yēthē jāle avasāna — here,avasāna(final-decision, end, nirvāṇa) has happened; kāyā vāchā mana vechūnīyām — body, voice, mind — spent (out).
What it means
A short offering-prayer. Vadavāvī vāṇī mājhī krpāvantā — vāg-puṣpa santām samarpīśī — make my voice speak, compassionate one — you offer vāg-puṣpa (word-flowers) to sants. The petition: the Lord makes the bhakta's voice speak; the words-spoken are then offered as flowers to sants. The poetry-as-vāg-puṣpa-pūjā is the bhakti-claim.
The dhrūpada: sarva-sankaṭāñcā tumhām parihāra — ghālāvā myām bhāra Pāṇḍurangā — for all-calamities, you are the parihāra (remedy); I have placed the burden on you, Pāṇḍurangā. The covenant-claim: the Lord is the universal-remedy; the bhakta's-action is placing the burden.
The second verse: ēkasarē chintā ṭhevūnīyām pāyī — jālōm utarāī hōtōm tēṇe — at-one-stroke placing chintā at the feet — by that, I have becomeutarāī(paid-off). Utarāī (literally — one who has crossed-over — used in commerce for debt-cleared). The bhakta has cleared his account by placing chintā at the feet.
The close: jāle avasāna — kāyā vāchā mana vechūnīyām — (here) theavasāna(final-decision, nirvāṇa) has happened — body-voice-mind (have been) spent. The three-fold-spending — body-voice-mind — has reached the avasāna (final-completion).
For someone today
Tukaram asks God to speak through his voice, so that the words he offers become like flowers presented to the community of saints. He declares that God is the remedy for every calamity, and so he hands over his whole burden of worry to Pandurang. The moment he places his anxiety at God's feet, all at once, he feels his debts are cleared, as if a heavy account has finally been settled. In that surrender, he says, everything, body, voice, and mind, has been fully spent, and a final peace has arrived.
मराठी: तुकाराम देवाला विनंती करतात की माझ्या वाणीतून तूच बोल, म्हणजे मी उच्चारलेले शब्द संतांना अर्पण केलेल्या फुलांसारखे होतील. सर्व संकटांवर तूच उपाय आहेस, असं सांगून ते आपला संपूर्ण चिंतेचा भार पांडुरंगावर टाकतात. एकाच वेळी सगळी चिंता पायांशी ठेवल्यावर, जणू मोठं कर्ज फिटल्यासारखं वाटतं, असं ते सांगतात. या शरणागतीत काया-वाचा-मन पूर्णपणे खर्ची पडलं आणि अंतिम शांती लाभली, असं ते म्हणतात.
Where this applies
- When you're weighed down by worry and want to hand the whole burden over at once
- When you want your words or creative work to become an offering rather than self-promotion
- When you feel like you're carrying a debt of anxiety that never gets settled
- When you're ready to give everything you have, your actions, speech, and thoughts, to something greater than yourself