Abhanga 3147
Wholehearted prayer can be bold and urgent, casting aside doubt and hesitation to ask directly and insistently for what is truly needed.
The verse
ऐका जी देवा माझी विनवणी । मस्तक चरणीं ठेवीतसें ॥१॥
सन्निध पातलों सांडूनियां शंका । सन्मुख चि एकाएकीं पुढें ॥ध्रु.॥
जाणविलें कोठें पावे पायांपाशीं । केली या जिवासी साटी म्हुण ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे माझे हातीं द्या उद्धार । करीं करकर म्हणवूनि ॥३॥
Literal translation
Aikā jī Devā mājhī vinavaṇī — hear, Deva, my vinavanī; mastaka charaṇīm ṭhevītsē — placing mastaka at charaṇa. Sannidha pātalōm sāṇḍūnīyām śankā — I came close, abandoning śankā; sanmukha chi eka-ekīm puḍhe — face-to-face, one-on-one. Jāṇavile kōṭhe pāve pāyāmpāśīm — wherever (it) is known, reaches the pāya; kelī yā jivāsī sāṭī mhuṇa — (I) have made a sāṭī of this jīva. Tukā mhaṇe mājhe hātīm dyā uddhāra — Tukā says: place uddhāra in my hands; karīm karakara mhaṇavūnī — making karakara, saying so.
What it means
A 3-verse extreme-petition by Tukārām. The claim: Hear-my-vinavanī, Deva, with-head-at-feet. I-came-close, abandoning-doubt — face-to-face. Wherever-(the-cry)-reaches-pāya — I-made-sāṭī (trade) of-my-jīva. Place-uddhāra-in-my-hands — make-me-karakara (forcefully-insistent).
The closing-claim place-uddhāra-in-my-hands is striking — the bhakta-asks-for-uddhāra-as-physical-possession, not-promised-but-given-in-hand.
For someone today
Tukārām's extreme-petition. Hear, O Deva, my entreaty — placing (my) head at (your) feet. I have come close, abandoning doubt — face-to-face, one-on-one. Wherever (my cry) reaches (your) feet — I have made a trade of this life. Place liberation in my hands — making (me) forcefully-insistent and saying so. The verse permits the bhakti-extreme-petition: uddhāra-in-hands, karakara-insistence.
Where this applies
- When you are desperate for change and feel ready to drop all hesitation and ask directly for what you need
- When you have been holding back out of politeness and realize honest urgency might serve you better
- When you have staked everything on one hope and want words for that kind of total commitment
- When you feel it is time to stop waiting quietly and insist, with full honesty, on what you truly need