Abhanga 2974
Admitting you are ruled by your body and weak in spirit, and clinging to God's feet out of fear with no other recourse, is itself a genuine form of surrender.
The verse
नव्हें मी स्वतंत्र अंगाचा पाईंक । जे हे सकळिक सत्ता वारूं ॥१॥
तुम्हां आळवावें पाउला पाउलीं । कृपेची साउली करीं मज ॥ध्रु.॥
शक्तिहीन तरी जालों शरणागत । आपुला वृत्तांत जाणोनियां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे भवाभेणें धरिलें पाय । आणीक उपाय नेणें कांहीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Navhe mī svatantra angāñcā pāīmka — I am notsvatantra(independent) — (I am) thepāīmka(servant) of (my)anga(body); je he sakaḷika sattā vārūm — because-of-this, I push-away (cannot-engage) all thesesattā(powers, faculties). Tumhām āḷavāve pāulā pāulī — I mustāḷavāve(call-out) to youpāulā pāulī(step-by-step); krpe-cī sāulī karī maja — make (your)krpā-sāulī(compassion-shade) for me. Śakti-hīna tarī jālōm śaraṇāgata — (though)śakti-hīna(weak), yet I have becomeśaraṇāgata; āpulā vrttānta jāṇōnīyām — knowing myvrttānta(state, narrative). Tukā says: bhavā-bheṇe dharile pāya — by thebhava-bheṇa(fear-of-bhava), I have held (your) feet; āṇīka upāya neṇe kāmhī — I do not know any otherupāya(means).
What it means
A short śaraṇāgati petition verse. Navhe mī svatantra angāñcā pāīmka — je he sakaḷika sattā vārūm — not independent — body's-servant — because-of-it I-push-away all-sattās. The opening-claim: I-am-not-master-of-myself; I-am-body's-servant; this prevents-me-from-engaging-the-full-faculties (sattās).
Tumhām āḷavāve pāulā pāulī — krpe-cī sāulī karī maja — must call you step-by-step — make krpā-shade. The discipline + petition.
Śakti-hīna tarī jālōm śaraṇāgata — āpulā vrttānta jāṇōnīyām — weak yet śaraṇāgata — knowing my state. The śaraṇāgati is intelligence-of-one's-own-weakness.
The close: bhavā-bheṇe dharile pāya — āṇīka upāya neṇe kāmhī — by fear-of-bhava held feet — no other upāya. The fear-driven surrender; no-alternatives-known.
For someone today
This is an honest prayer of surrender from someone who knows they are weak. I am not truly my own master, Tukārām says — I am a servant of my own body, and because of that I cannot draw on all my inner powers. So I must call out to you again and again, step by step, asking you to spread the shade of your compassion over me. I am weak, yet I have surrendered, knowing exactly what my condition is. Out of fear of this worldly cycle, I have clung to your feet — I know no other way. The prayer moves honestly through several steps: admitting you are ruled by your body, calling out to God step by step, asking for the shade of grace, surrendering precisely because you are weak, and clinging to God's feet out of fear with no other option in sight. The discipline here is simple — recognize your own weakness, and come to the Lord because there is nowhere else left to go.
मराठी: ही आपल्या दुबळेपणाची पूर्ण जाणीव असलेल्या भक्ताची प्रामाणिक शरणागतीची प्रार्थना आहे. तुकाराम म्हणतात, मी खरोखर स्वतःचा मालक नाही — मी माझ्याच शरीराचा सेवक आहे, आणि त्यामुळे माझ्या सगळ्या शक्ती मला वापरता येत नाहीत. म्हणून मला पावलोपावली तुला हाक मारावी लागते, तुझ्या कृपेची सावली माझ्यावर धरावी अशी विनवणी करावी लागते. मी दुर्बल आहे, तरीही मी शरण आलो आहे, कारण मला माझी अवस्था नीट माहीत आहे. भवाच्या भीतीने मी तुझे पाय धरले आहेत — मला दुसरा कुठलाही उपाय माहीत नाही. ही प्रार्थना टप्प्याटप्प्याने पुढे जाते — प्रथम आपण शरीराच्या अधीन आहोत हे मान्य करणे, मग पावलोपावली देवाला हाक मारणे, कृपेच्या सावलीची याचना करणे, दुर्बलतेतूनच शरण जाणे, आणि भीतीपोटी देवाचे पाय धरून राहणे, कारण दुसरा कोणताही मार्ग दिसत नाही. यातील शिकवण साधी आहे — आपला दुबळेपणा ओळखा आणि देवाकडे जा, कारण तोच शेवटचा आणि एकमेव आधार आहे.
Where this applies
- When you feel controlled by bodily urges or old habits rather than truly in charge of your own choices
- When you are afraid to admit weakness because you think surrender should look strong or polished
- When you keep circling back to the same fears about life's struggles and cannot see any other way through
- When you need to ask for help in small, repeated steps rather than through one grand gesture