Abhanga 2937
Live as though your actions and their results belong to God moving through you like a puppeteer, rather than clinging to ownership of everything you do.
The verse
आम्ही मेलों तेव्हां देह दिला देवा । आतां करूं सेवा कोणाची ॥१॥
सूत्रधारी जैसा हालवितो कळा । तैसा तो पुतळा नाचे छंदें ॥ध्रु.॥
बोलतसें जैसें बोलवितो देव । मज हा संदेह कासयाचा ॥२॥
पाप पुण्य ज्याचें तो चि जाणें कांहीं । संबंध हा नाहीं आम्हांसवें ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे तुम्ही आइका हो मात । आम्ही या अतीत देहाहूनी ॥४॥
Literal translation
Āmhī melōm tevhām deha dilā Devā — when we died, (we) gave thedeha(body) to Deva; ātām karūm sevā kōṇāñcī — now whosesevāshall (I) do? Sūtra-dhārī jaisā hālavitō kaḷā — just as thesūtra-dhārī(puppeteer) moves thekaḷā(art); taisā tō putalā nāche chande — so theputalā(puppet) dances in (its)chanda(style). Bōlatase jaise bōlavitō Deva — (I) speak just-as Deva makes (me) speak; maja hā samdēha kāsayāñcā — whatsamdēha(doubt) (is left) for me? Pāpa puṇya jyāñce tō chi jāṇe kāmhī — whosepāpaandpuṇya(it is) — he alone knows; sambandha hā nāhī āmhām-save — this connection is not (with) us. Tukā says: tumhī aikā hō māta — please hear this news; āmhī yā atīta dehāhūnī — we (are)atīta(beyond, transcendent) (this)deha.
What it means
THE canonical 5-verse striking we-already-died-gave-deha-to-Deva radical deha-atīta verse.
Verse 1 (the radical-opening): Āmhī melōm tevhām deha dilā Devā — ātām karūm sevā kōṇāñcī — when we (already) died, we gave the body to Deva — now whose sevā? The radical-claim: the bhakta has-already-died (metaphorically-in-bhakti) and given-the-deha to-Deva. The deha-is-no-longer-mine. Therefore whose sevā shall I do? (= I can't have a-sevā-direction; my-self-is-already-given-away).
Dhrūpada: Sūtra-dhārī jaisā hālavitō kaḷā — taisā tō putalā nāche chande — as the puppeteer moves the art — so the puppet dances. The puppet-image (pairs with 2820, 2913, 2926).
Verse 2: Bōlatase jaise bōlavitō Deva — maja hā samdēha kāsayāñcā — I speak just as Deva makes (me) speak — what doubt is left for me? The radical-claim: Deva-speaks-through-me; therefore no-doubt-left (about-what-to-speak). (Pairs with 2917 tūm bōlasī mājhyā mukhe.)
Verse 3: Pāpa puṇya jyāñce tō chi jāṇe kāmhī — sambandha hā nāhī āmhām-save — whose pāpa-puṇya it is — he alone knows; this connection is not (with) us. The radical-claim: pāpa-puṇya belong to Deva (who-operates-through-me); not to us. (Pairs with 2922 all-three-karmas-became-Nārāyaṇa.)
Close: Tukā mhaṇe tumhī aikā hō māta — āmhī yā atīta dehāhūnī — please hear this news — we (are) atīta (transcendent) this body. The deha-atīta declaration — we are beyond-this-body.
The verse is one of THE most-radical detachment-statements in the corpus. The bhakta has performed symbolic-death — given-the-deha-to-Deva — and is now operating beyond-the-body mode. Pairs with 2659-2662 (self-cremation cluster) and 2917 (non-dual identification).
For someone today
Tukaram says that when we truly died to ourselves, we already gave this body over to God — so whose service is left for us to claim as our own anymore? Just as a puppeteer moves a puppet through its art, the puppet simply dances along in that rhythm. I speak only as God makes me speak, so what doubt could possibly remain for me? Whatever sin or merit results — only God truly knows whose it is; that reckoning has nothing to do with us. Listen to this news, Tukaram says: we are beyond this body altogether.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की जेव्हा आम्ही खरोखर स्वतःच्या अहंकाराला मेलो, तेव्हाच आम्ही हे शरीर देवाला अर्पण केले — मग आता आमची स्वतःची अशी कोणती सेवा उरली आहे? जसा सूत्रधार बाहुली नाचवतो, तशीच ती बाहुली त्याच्याच तालावर नाचत राहते. देव जसे बोलवतो तसेच मी बोलतो, मग माझ्यासाठी शिल्लक असा कोणता संदेह उरतो? जे पाप-पुण्य घडते, ते कोणाचे आहे हे फक्त देवालाच ठाऊक आहे; त्या हिशोबाशी आमचा काही संबंध नाही. ही गोष्ट ऐका, तुकाराम म्हणतात: आम्ही या शरीराच्याही पलीकडे आहोत.
Where this applies
- When you're anxious about being blamed or credited for outcomes that feel out of your control
- When you want to loosen your grip on being the one in charge of everything you do
- When you're trying to let go of over-identifying with your body or your role in life