Abhanga 2856
Keep your mind undivided and your attention fixed on the Lord directly, without begging others as go-betweens, and trust that grace comes on its own.
The verse
नये वांटूं मन । कांहीं न देखावें भिन्न ॥१॥
पाय विठोबाचे चित्ती । असों द्यावे दिवसराती ॥ध्रु.॥
नये काकुळती । कोणा यावें हरिभक्ति ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे साईं । करील कृपेची विठाईं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Naye vāṇṭūm mana — (one) should notvāṇṭūm(divide, distribute) the mind; kāmhī na dekhāve bhinna — nothing should-be-seen asbhinna(separate, different). Pāya Viṭhōbāñce chitti — the feet of Viṭhōbā — in (the) chitta; asō dyāve divasa-rātī — let-them-be — day-and-night. Naye kākuḷatī — (one) should not come intokākuḷatī(humble-supplication); kōṇā yāve Hari-bhakti — to whom should one come forHari-bhakti? (i.e., to no-one — go-directly to Hari). Tukā says: Sāī — (O)Sāī(Lord, Friend); karīl krpe-cī Viṭhāī — theViṭhāī(the feminine-form of Viṭhōbā) will do (her)krpā.
What it means
A short exclusive-bhakti discipline verse. Naye vāṇṭūm mana — kāmhī na dekhāve bhinna — one should not divide the mind — nothing should-be-seen as separate. The opening exclusive-bhakti: don't divide the mind among many deities/objects; don't see anything as separate (from Hari).
Pāya Viṭhōbāñce chitti — asō dyāve divasa-rātī — Viṭhōbā's feet in the chitta — let-them-be day-and-night. The discipline: Viṭhōbā's-feet in chitta — day-and-night.
Naye kākuḷatī — kōṇā yāve Hari-bhakti — one should not come into supplication — to whom should one go (for) Hari-bhakti? The directness-rule: don't supplicate-others for Hari-bhakti; go-directly to Hari. (Compare 2856's general anti-supplication-of-others.)
The close: Tukā mhaṇe Sāī — karīl krpe-cī Viṭhāī — Sāī (Lord-friend) — the Viṭhāī will do (her) krpā. The closing-warrant: the Viṭhāī (feminine-Viṭhōbā) does the krpā — i.e., the Lord-himself does the work; no-other-intermediary needed.
The use of Sāī (a Sufi-mendicant-honorific for Lord-friend) and Viṭhāī (feminine-tender-form) shows Tukārām's flexible-vocabulary.
For someone today
This is a simple discipline of undivided devotion. Don't split your attention among many things, Tuka says — see nothing as separate from the Lord. Keep Vithoba's feet fixed in your heart and mind, day and night. And don't go begging others for a way into devotion — there's no need to plead with intermediaries, because you can go straight to the Lord yourself. In the end, Tuka says, it is the Divine Mother herself, Vithai, who grants her grace directly.
मराठी: ही एकनिष्ठ भक्तीची एक साधी शिस्त आहे. तुकाराम महाराज म्हणतात, आपले मन अनेक गोष्टींत विभागू नये — कशालाही परमेश्वरापासून वेगळे मानू नये. विठोबाचे चरण रात्रंदिवस चित्तात ठेवावेत. आणि भक्तीसाठी दुसऱ्या कोणाकडे याचना करण्याची गरज नाही — मध्यस्थांपुढे लाचार होण्याऐवजी थेट परमेश्वराकडेच जावे. शेवटी तुकाराम महाराज म्हणतात, ती विठाईच, माऊलीच, आपली कृपा स्वतः करते.
Where this applies
- When your attention is scattered across too many things and you feel pulled in different directions
- When you are tempted to rely on go-betweens or intermediaries instead of trusting your own direct connection with the divine
- When you feel like you have to beg or plead for someone else's favor to reach what you want spiritually
- When you want one simple daily habit to keep your mind steady instead of many complicated ones