Abhanga 3002
Devotion can become so fierce that a devotee ties his own fate to God's, refusing to let go or be pushed away.
The verse
अवगलासीं झोंडपणें । परी मी जाण जीवें जिरों नेदीं ॥१॥
तुझें काय एवढें । भय आपुलें मागतां ॥ध्रु.॥
कवडीचा तो आतां । पडों नेदीन फेर ॥२॥
माझा गळा तुझा पाव । एके ठायीं बांधेन ॥३॥
Literal translation
Avagalāsīm jhōṇḍa-paṇē — (you) haveavagalāsīm(turned-aside, deviated) towardjhōṇḍa-paṇa(bullying, harshness); parī mī jāṇa jīve jirōm nedī — but know, I will not let (your) lifejirōm(digest) (this). Tujhe kāya evaḍhe — what isevaḍhe(so-much) of yours; bhaya āpule māgatām — bhaya(fear) at my own asking? Kavaḍīñcā tō ātām — of-a-kavaḍī(cowrie-coin) — now; paḍōm nedīna pheṛa — I will not let thepheṛa(round, return-roll) fall. Mājhā gaḷā tujhā pāva — mygaḷā(throat) and yourpāva(foot); eke ṭhāyī bāndhena — in one place I will bind.
What it means
A short 3-verse hostage-tying verse. NON-Tukārām (by cluster-context). The striking image: my throat (and) your foot — in one place I will bind — the bhakta will tie his-own-throat to-the-Lord's-foot; either-both-stay-or-both-go. This is a more-radical hostage-image-than-the-prior-cluster-uses.
For someone today
Here the devotee accuses the Lord of turning harsh and pulling away, but he refuses to let that stand — he won't let it just pass. He asks why such a small request of his should cause the Lord so much fear or hesitation. He won't leave even the smallest debt between them unsettled. And then comes the radical vow: he will tie his own throat to the Lord's foot, binding the two together in one place, so that neither can leave without the other. It's devotion pushed to its fiercest point — refusing to let a relationship with God fade, and staking your own fate on staying bound to it.
मराठी: येथे भक्त परमेश्वरावर कठोरपणे दूर सारल्याचा आरोप करतो, पण हे तो सहज सोडून देत नाही — असे होऊ देणार नाही असे ठामपणे सांगतो. आपली एवढीशी विनंती असतानाही परमेश्वराला एवढी भीती का वाटावी, असे तो विचारतो. दोघांमधला अगदी छोटासा हिशेबही तो अनिर्णित राहू देणार नाही. आणि मग येतो तो धाडसी नवस — आपला गळा परमेश्वराच्या पायाला एकाच ठिकाणी बांधून टाकीन, म्हणजे कोणीही एकटे सुटून जाऊ शकणार नाही. ही भक्तीची अत्यंत तीव्र अवस्था आहे — परमेश्वराशी असलेले नाते विरून जाऊ न देण्याचा आणि आपले भवितव्य त्याच्याशी कायमचे बांधून टाकण्याचा हा निर्धार आहे.
Where this applies
- When someone you love keeps pulling away and you refuse to let the relationship just fade
- When your request feels small and reasonable, yet the other person meets it with distance or excuses
- When you commit yourself so fully to something that your own fate becomes bound to its outcome
- When you decide not to let an unresolved matter drop until it is truly settled