Abhanga 2928
Ask to have your natural energies reversed: laziness toward sense-pleasures, strength toward remembering God, silence about idle talk, and a constant inner vision of the divine so you are never left spiritually blind.
The verse
आळस पाडी विषयकामीं । शक्ती देई तुझ्या नामीं ॥१॥
हे चि विनवणी विनवणी । विनविली धरा मनीं ॥ध्रु.॥
आणिक वचना मुकी वाणी । तुमच्या गर्जो द्यावी गुणीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे पाय डोळां । पाहें एरवी अंधळा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āḷasa pāḍī viṣaya-kāmī — cast (me into)āḷasa(laziness) forviṣaya-kāma(sense-object-desires); śaktī deī tujhyā nāmī — giveśakti(strength) in your Name. He chi vinavaṇī vinavaṇī — this is thevinavaṇī(supplication) (and) supplication; vinavilī dharā manī — please hold the requested in mind. Āṇika vachanā mukī vāṇī — let (my) othervachana(words) bemukī(mute); tumchyā garjō dyāvī guṇī — let (my voice)garjō(proclaim, roar) in yourguṇa(qualities). Tukā says: pāya ḍōḷām — (let your) feet be in (my) eye; pāhe eravī andhaḷā — otherwise (I am)andhaḷā(blind).
What it means
A short invert-the-energies petition. Āḷasa pāḍī viṣaya-kāmī — śaktī deī tujhyā nāmī — cast me into laziness for sense-objects; give me strength in your Name. The opening-petition: invert my usual energies — laziness-for-viṣaya, strength-for-Nāma. (Normally we have energy-for-viṣaya and laziness-for-Nāma; the petition asks for-the-reverse.)
Āṇika vachanā mukī vāṇī — tumchyā garjō dyāvī guṇī — let my other-words be mute; let (my voice) roar in your guṇa. The speech-petition: make my-other-speech mute; make it roar-only-in-your-praise.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe pāya ḍōḷām — pāhe eravī andhaḷā — let (your) feet be in my eye — otherwise (I am) blind. The vision-claim: without-darśana-of-your-feet, I am blind. The verse asks for constant-feet-darśana in-the-eye.
For someone today
A useful invert-the-energies petition. Cast me into laziness for sense-object-desires; give me strength in your Name. This is my supplication — please hold (it) in (your) mind. Let my other-words be mute; let (my voice) roar in your guṇa. (Let your) feet be in my eye — otherwise (I am) blind. The verse permits the petition to invert-the-energies: (1) laziness-for-viṣaya-kāma; (2) strength-for-Nāma; (3) mute-other-words, roar-in-praise; (4) feet-in-eye, otherwise-blind. The recognition-of-imbalance and prayer-for-reversal.
Where this applies
- When you have boundless energy for entertainment or desires but feel too tired to pray
- When idle chatter and complaints crowd out any words of devotion
- When you feel your daily practice has gone dry and you want the divine to feel present again