Abhanga 2923
Come to God honestly admitting you are drowning and powerless, and keep asking, rather than waiting until you feel ready or worthy.
The verse
नेणे करूं सेवा । पांडुरंगा कृपाळुवा ॥१॥
धांवें बुडतों मी काढीं । सत्ता आपुलिया ओढीं ॥ध्रु.॥
क्रियाकर्महीन । जालों इंद्रियां अधीन ॥२॥
तुका विनंती करी । वेळोवेळां पाय धरी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Neṇe karūm sevā — (I) don't know how to dosevā; Pāṇḍurangā krpāḷuvā — (O) compassionate Pāṇḍuranga. Dhāve buḍatōm mī kāḍhī — run, I am drowning, take (me) out; sattā āpuliyā ōḍhī — by your ownsattā(sovereign-power), pull (me). Kriyā-karma-hīna — (I have become)kriyā-karma-hīna(without ritual-action); jālōm indriyām adhīna — I have becomeadhīna(subject) to theindriyas. Tukāvinatī karī—makes the vinatī (supplication);veḷōveḷām pāya dharī—time-after-time holds the feet.
What it means
A short drowning-petition verse. Neṇe karūm sevā — Pāṇḍurangā krpāḷuvā — I don't know how to do sevā — compassionate Pāṇḍuranga. The opening-confession.
Dhāve buḍatōm mī kāḍhī — sattā āpuliyā ōḍhī — run, I'm drowning, pull (me) out — by your own sattā pull. The drowning-image: I'm being-drowned (by-my-faults); pull-me by your-own-power (since I cannot save myself).
Kriyā-karma-hīna — jālōm indriyām adhīna — without-ritual-action — subject to senses. The honest-confession: I have-no-ritual-purity; I am-subject-to-the-senses. (Pairs with 2851 vāchā-vade-but-karaṇē-kaṭhīṇa — both honest-self-confessions.)
The close: Tukā vinatī karī — veḷōveḷām pāya dharī — makes the supplication — repeatedly holds the feet. The repeated-feet-holding is the bhakta's-position.
For someone today
I don't even know how to serve you properly, Tukaram admits, compassionate Pandurang. Come running, pull me out — I'm drowning, and only your own power can save me. I've fallen away from any real discipline and have become a slave to my own senses. So Tukaram simply keeps making his plea, holding your feet again and again.
मराठी: मला तुझी नीट सेवाही करता येत नाही, तुकाराम कबूल करतात, कृपाळू पांडुरंगा. धावत ये, मला ओढून काढ — मी बुडतो आहे, आणि फक्त तुझ्याच शक्तीने मी वाचू शकतो. मी खरी शिस्त गमावली आहे आणि माझ्याच इंद्रियांचा गुलाम झालो आहे. म्हणून तुकाराम फक्त विनवणी करत राहतात, वारंवार तुझे पाय धरत राहतात.
Where this applies
- When you feel unqualified or unpracticed at prayer and are tempted to stay quiet out of embarrassment
- When you feel overwhelmed, as if you are drowning in your own habits or circumstances
- When you know your discipline has slipped and you have no ritual routine left to show for yourself
- When your senses and cravings keep pulling you around and you feel powerless to stop them