Abhanga 2877
Do not grip tightly to wealth or outcomes you cannot ultimately keep, since accumulated riches stay behind when you die, and true security lies elsewhere.
The verse
आम्हां विष्णुदासां हें चि भांडवल । अवघा विठ्ठल धन वत्ति ॥१॥
वाणी नाहीं घ्यावें आपुलिया हातें । करोनियां चित्ती समाधान ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे द्रव्य मेळविलें मागें । हें तों कोणासंगें आलें नाहीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āmhām Viṣṇu-dāsām he chi bhāṇḍavala — for us Viṣṇu-dāsas — this very (is the)bhāṇḍavala(capital, working-stock); avaghā Viṭhṭhala dhana vatti — all (is) Viṭṭhal — (our)dhana(wealth) (and)vatti(conduct, behavior). Vāṇī nāhī ghyāve āpuliyā hāte — thevāṇī(trading-business) — not to be taken by one's own hand; karōnīyām chitti samādhāna — makingsamādhāna(peace) in (the) chitta. Tukā says: dravya meḷavile māge — thedravya(wealth) (that was) gathered earlier (in the past, by previous generations); he tōm kōṇā-sange āle nāhī — that — did not come (along) with anyone (i.e., people died and it stayed).
What it means
A short Viṣṇu-dāsa-capital declaration verse. Āmhām Viṣṇu-dāsām he chi bhāṇḍavala — avaghā Viṭhṭhala dhana vatti — for us Viṣṇu-dāsas — this is the bhāṇḍavala — all (is) Viṭṭhal — wealth and conduct. The opening-declaration: Viṭṭhal alone is both our-wealth and our-conduct-template. The bhakta-merchant-class image: Viṭṭhal is the working-capital (bhāṇḍavala).
Vāṇī nāhī ghyāve āpuliyā hāte — karōnīyām chitti samādhāna — the trading-business is not for taking by one's own hand — make peace in (the) chitta. The discipline: don't push-the-business (thevāṇī) with one's own hand — i.e., don't grasp-anxiously. Instead, make samādhāna (peace) in the chitta. (This echoes 2839's prārabdha-discipline — don't sōsa, bhaja-Pandharī-rāya.)
The close: Tukā mhaṇe dravya meḷavile māge — he tōm kōṇā-sange āle nāhī — the wealth gathered earlier — did not come with anyone. The canonical-reminder: wealth-gathered-by-previous-generations did-not-come-with-them-at-death. The implicit-lesson: don't grasp-now-what-you-cannot-take-anyway. The bhakta's bhāṇḍavala (Viṭṭhal) does-come-with-him; ordinary-dravya doesn't.
For someone today
A canonical Viṣṇu-dāsa-capital declaration. For us Viṣṇu-dāsas — this is the capital — all is Viṭṭhal — wealth and conduct. The business is not for taking by one's own hand — make peace in the chitta. The wealth gathered earlier — did not come with anyone. The verse offers the bhakta-as-merchant template: (1) Viṭṭhal is the working capital; (2) don't push the business with anxious effort; (3) make peace within your own heart; (4) remember that wealth doesn't go with anyone at death. The verse is companion to 2839 (one's fated portion fills the belly) and 2867 (stay as Ananta has placed you) — the same discipline of equanimity applied to economic life.
मराठी: ही विष्णुदासांच्या भांडवलाची घोषणा आहे. आम्हा विष्णुदासांचे हेच भांडवल आहे — विठ्ठलच आमचे धन आणि आमची वृत्ती. व्यापार स्वतःच्या हाताने ओढून घ्यायचा नाही — चित्तात समाधान करावे. आधी जमवलेले द्रव्य — ते कोणाबरोबर गेले नाही. हा अभंग भक्ताला व्यापाऱ्याचा आदर्श देतो : (१) विठ्ठलच खरे भांडवल आहे; (२) चिंताग्रस्त प्रयत्नांनी व्यापार ओढू नये; (३) स्वतःच्या मनात समाधान राखावे; (४) मृत्यूसमयी संपत्ती कोणाबरोबरही जात नाही हे लक्षात ठेवावे. हा अभंग २८३९ (प्रारब्धानेच पोट भरते) आणि २८६७ (अनंताने ठेवले तसेच राहावे) यांच्याशी नाते सांगतो — आर्थिक जीवनातही तीच समत्वाची शिकवण.
Where this applies
- When you're anxious about money or business outcomes and want a way to find inner peace instead.
- When you catch yourself hoarding or grasping for wealth out of fear rather than genuine need.
- When you're settling an inheritance or thinking about what a departed relative's wealth really meant to them.
- When you want to rethink what actually counts as security in your life.