Abhanga 3168
When the effort to renounce only feeds the craving, the answer is not more willpower but handing your whole self over and resting in something larger.
The verse
त्यागें भोग माझ्या येतील अंतरा । मग मी दातारा काय करूं ॥१॥
आतां असो तुझे पायीं हें मोटळें । इंद्रियें सकळें काया मन ॥ध्रु.॥
सांडीमांडी विधिनिषेधाचा ठाव । न कळतां भाव जाइल वांयां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आतां नको उजगरा । लपवीं दातारा अंगीं मज ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tyāgē bhoga mājhyā yētīla antarā — by tyāga (renunciation) bhoga will (still) enter my antara; maga mī dātārā kāya karūm — then what shall I do, O dātāra. Ātām asō tujhē pāyīm hem moṭaḷe — now let this bundle be at your feet; indriyem sakaḷe kāyā mana — all the indriyas, kāyā, mana. Sāṇḍī-māṇḍī vidhi-niṣedhāchā ṭhāva — do-and-don't is the place of vidhi-niṣedha; na kaḷatām bhāva jāila vāmyām — without bhāva being known, it goes in vain. Tukā mhaṇe ātām nakō ujagarā — Tukā says: do not (cause) ujagarā (exposure) now; lapavīm dātārā angīm maja — hide me, O dātāra, within (your) anga.
What it means
A 4-verse surrender-text built on a paradox of tyāga: even renunciation re-feeds bhoga (because the very effort makes the senses object-aware). So Tukārām gives up the do-and-don't of vidhi-niṣedha and bundles his indriyas/kāyā/mana at the Lord's feet — and asks not to be exposed but hidden in the Lord's own body.
For someone today
When effort-to-renounce only intensifies the craving, the path is not more effort — it is handing over the bundle. Hide in something larger than your willpower.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's renunciation-as-trap; hide-in-anga canonical
- Companion to 2867 (ṭhevilē-Anantē) and 2730 (extreme-humility)