Abhanga 2853
Nakō dēūm Devā pōṭī he santāna — don't give, Deva, in (my) pōṭī (belly) this santāna (offspring); māyā-jāḷē jāṇa nāṭhavasī — (it is) the māyā-net — know — (I) won't remember (you).
The verse
नको देऊं देवा पोटीं हें संतान । मायाजाळें जाण नाठवसी ॥१॥
नको देऊं देवा द्रव्य आणि भाग्य । तो एक उद्वेग होय जीवा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे करीं फकिराचे परी । रात्रदिवस हरि येइल घरा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Nakō dēūm Devā pōṭī he santāna — don't give, Deva, in (my) pōṭī (belly) this santāna (offspring); māyā-jāḷē jāṇa nāṭhavasī — (it is) the māyā-net — know — (I) won't remember (you). Nakō dēūm Devā dravya āṇi bhāgya — don't give, Deva, dravya (wealth) and bhāgya (good-fortune); tō ēka udvega hōya jīvā — that becomes one udvega (anxiety, agitation) for the jīva. Tukā says: karī fakīrāñce parī — make (me) like a fakīra (mendicant); rātra-divasa Hari yēīla gharā — day-and-night Hari will come to (my) house.
What it means
A 3-verse radical-renunciation prayer. The verse is unusual for the householder-Tukārām corpus — it is a direct anti-family-anti-wealth petition. (This is consistent with bhakti-yearning peaks where the bhakta protests that worldly-prosperity itself becomes obstacle.)
Nakō dēūm Devā pōṭī he santāna — māyā-jāḷē jāṇa nāṭhavasī — don't give, Deva, offspring in (my) belly — (it's) the māyā-net — I won't remember (you). The petition: don't give-me-offspring; offspring is the māyā-net; I-won't-be-able-to-remember-you.
Nakō dēūm Devā dravya āṇi bhāgya — tō ēka udvega hōya jīvā — don't give, Deva, wealth and good-fortune — they become one (great) udvega (anxiety) for the jīva. The petition: don't give-me-wealth-or-good-fortune; they cause-anxiety.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe karī fakīrāñce parī — rātra-divasa Hari yēīla gharā — Tukā: make me like a fakīra — day-and-night Hari will come to (my) house. The positive-petition: make me like a fakīra (mendicant — no family, no wealth) — (then) Hari will come to my house day-and-night. The bhakta wants Hari-visit-frequency — the fakīra-state enables-it.
Fakīra is a Sufi-mendicant term — its use here shows Tukārām's cross-tradition vocabulary. (Tukārām lived during the height of Indo-Persian cultural-exchange in the Deccan.)
For someone today
A canonical radical-renunciation petition. Don't give, Deva, offspring in (my) belly — (it's) the māyā-net — I won't remember (you). Don't give, Deva, wealth and good-fortune — they cause anxiety for the jīva. Make me like a fakīra — day-and-night Hari will come to (my) house. The verse permits the radical-bhakti petition: the bhakta sees clearly that family-and-wealth become obstacles, and asks-the-Lord to-spare-him-from-them. The diagnostic-claim: santāna = māyā-jāḷa (forgetfulness-net); dhana-bhāgya = jīva-udvega (anxiety-source). The closing-equation: fakīra-state → Hari-visits-day-and-night. Note: this is petitionary-rhetoric, not a permanent-position — Tukārām himself was a householder. But the yearning-prayer permits the bhakta to name-the-obstacles.
Where this applies
- The canonical don't-give-me-santāna-dhana-bhāgya, make-me-fakīra radical-renunciation petition
- Recognizing santāna as māyā-jāḷa; dhana-bhāgya as jīva-udvega
- The fakīra-prayer — Hari-will-come-home-day-and-night
- Tukārām's cross-tradition fakīra-vocabulary — Indo-Persian Deccan context