Abhanga 3360
When the mind drifts, the prayer is not abstract — it is operational: grip me by the arm. The work is the Lord's; the placing-of-head is the devotee's.
The verse
माझें चित्त तुझे पायीं । राहें ऐसें करीं कांहीं । धरोनियां बाहीं । भव तारीं दातारा ॥१॥
चतुरा तूं शिरोमणि । गुणलावण्याची खाणी । मुगुट सकळां मणि । तूं चि धन्य विठोबा ॥ध्रु.॥
करीं त्रिमिराचा नाश । दीप होउनि प्रकाश । तोडीं आशापाश । करीं वास हृदयीं ॥२॥
पाहें गुंतलों नेणतां । तुज असो माझी चिंता । तुका ठेवी माथा । पायीं आतां राखावें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Mājhē chitta tujhe pāyīm — rāhe aisē karīm kāmhī — dharōniyām bāhīm — bhava tārīm dātārā — my chitta at your feet — make it stay, do something — catch by arm — ferry me across bhava, O dātāra. Chaturā tūm śiromaṇi — guṇa-lāvaṇyāchī khāṇi — mukuṭa sakaḷām maṇi — tūm-chi dhanya Viṭhōbā — you are best-of-wise, mine-of-guṇa-beauty, mukuṭa-maṇi over all, alone-blessed Viṭhōbā. Karī trimirāchā nāśa — dīpa hounī prakāśa — tōḍī āśā-pāśa — karī vāsa hrdayīm — destroy darkness being lamp-of-light; cut āśā-noose; dwell in hrdaya. Pāhē gumtalōm neṇatām — tuja asō mājhī chimtā — Tukā ṭhevī māthā — pāyīm ātām rākhāvē — see I am tangled unknowing — let my care be yours — Tukā places head — keep (me) at feet now.
What it means
A 3-verse petition that follows the form do-something; you-are-supreme; destroy-darkness-cut-noose-dwell-within; place-my-head. The image-cluster: bāhī (arm-grip), bhava-tāraṇa (ferry), dīpa (lamp), āśā-pāśa (desire-noose), hrdaya-vāsa (heart-dwelling), māthā-pāyīm (head-at-feet).
For someone today
When the mind drifts, the prayer is not abstract — it is operational: grip me by the arm. The work is the Lord's; the placing-of-head is the devotee's.
Where this applies
- Canonical chitta-at-feet; dīpa-destroys-trimira; cut-āśā-pāśa petition
- Companion to 2811 (bhēṭīlāgīm-jīvā-lāgalīse-āsa yearning)