Abhanga 2903
Having run out of words and arguments, Tukaram stops negotiating and simply asks to be claimed as God's own and forgiven for his wrongs.
The verse
आणिलें सेवटा । आतां कामा नये फांटा ॥१॥
मज आपुलेंसें म्हणा । उपरि या नारायणा ॥ध्रु.॥
वेचियेली वाणी । युक्ति अवघी चरणीं ॥२॥
तुका धरी पाय । क्षमा करवूनि अन्याय ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āṇile sevaṭā — (you have) brought (me) to thesēvaṭa(end); ātām kāmā nye fāṇṭā — now (the)fāṇṭā(deflection, branch-aside) is of no use. Maja āpulese mhaṇā — call me your own; upari yā Nārāyaṇā — afterward (do what you will), Nārāyaṇa. Vechiyele vāṇī — (my) speech has beenvechiyele(spent, expended); yukti avaghī charaṇī — all myyukti(technique, argument, contrivance) (is) at (your) feet. Tukā dharī pāya — holds the feet; kṣamā karavūnī anyāya — make-(me)-have-the-doing ofkṣamā(forgiveness) (for my)anyāya(offense).
What it means
A short final-petition verse. Āṇile sevaṭā — ātām kāmā nye fāṇṭā — (you have) brought me to the end — now deflection is of no use. The opening-claim: the Lord himself has brought-me-to-the-end; there is no-more-room-for-deflection (fāṇṭā = branch-aside, evasion).
Maja āpulese mhaṇā — upari yā Nārāyaṇā — call me your own — afterward, do as you will, Nārāyaṇa. The petition: first-claim-me-as-yours; then do as you will. The bhakta wants the adoption-statement first.
Vechiyele vāṇī — yukti avaghī charaṇī — speech is spent — all my technique at (your) feet. The exhaustion-acknowledgment: I have no more words, no more arguments — they are all at-your-feet.
The close: Tukā dharī pāya — kṣamā karavūnī anyāya — Tukā holds the feet — make-(me)-be-forgiven the offense. The final-position: holding-the-feet, asking-forgiveness. (Pairs with 2730 mī-cha-vikhaḷa extreme-humility, 2730 kṣamā-prārthanā.)
For someone today
A useful final petition prayer. (You have) brought me to the end — now deflection is of no use. Call me your own — afterward, do as you will, Nārāyaṇa. Speech is spent — all my technique at (your) feet. Tukā holds the feet — make me forgiven the offense. The verse gives the bhakta's position of exhaustion: the Lord himself has brought me to the end, so call me your own; my words and my arguments are all spent, laid at your feet; I hold your feet and ask only to be forgiven. Tukārām's last words here are a plea for forgiveness for his wrongdoing.
मराठी: ही एक उपयुक्त अंतिम विनवणीची प्रार्थना आहे. तू मला शेवटाला आणले आहेस — आता टाळाटाळ उपयोगाची नाही. मला आपले म्हणा — मग नारायणा, तुझ्या इच्छेप्रमाणे कर. वाणी संपली आहे — माझी सगळी युक्ती तुझ्या पायी आहे. तुका पाय धरतो — अपराधाची क्षमा करव. हा अभंग भक्ताची थकलेली अवस्था मांडतो : देवानेच मला शेवटाला आणले आहे, म्हणून मला आपले म्हण; माझे शब्द आणि माझ्या युक्त्या संपल्या असून त्या तुझ्याच पायी वाहिल्या आहेत; मी तुझे पाय धरतो आणि फक्त क्षमेची याचना करतो. तुकारामांचे हे शेवटचे शब्द त्यांच्या अपराधाच्या क्षमायाचनेचे आहेत.
Where this applies
- When you run out of arguments or excuses and all you can honestly do is ask to be accepted as you are
- When you stop trying to justify yourself to someone and simply ask for forgiveness instead
- When words feel completely spent after a long struggle and all that is left is to hold on and trust