Abhanga 3361
True devotion means honestly admitting your need and handing your burden over, rather than pretending self-sufficiency, and finding sweetness in that ongoing dependence itself.
The verse
आमुचें उचित हे चि उपकार । आपला चि भार घालूं तुज ॥१॥
भूक लागलिया भोजनाची आळी । पांघुरणें काळीं शीताचिये ॥ध्रु.॥
जेणें काळें उठी मनाची आवडी । ते चि मागों घडी आवडे तें ॥२॥
दुःख येऊं नेदी आमचिया घरा । चक्र करी फेरा भोंवताला ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे नाहीं मुक्तीसवें चाड । हें चि आम्हां गोड जन्म घेतां ॥४॥
Literal translation
Āmuche uchita he chi upakāra — āpalā chi bhāra ghālūm tuja — our only uchita is this upakāra — throwing our own burden on you. Bhūka lāgaliyā bhojanāchī āḷī — pānghuraṇē kāḷīm śītāchiye — when hunger comes, cry for bhojana; in cold, for blanket. Jeṇē kāḷe uṭhī manāchī āvaḍī — te-chi māgōm ghaḍī āvaḍe tē — whatever the mana likes — that we ask moment by moment. Duḥkha yeūm nedī āmachiyā gharā — chakra karī pherā bhōmvatālā — no duḥkha comes to our house — your chakra circles around. Tukā mhaṇe nāhī muktīsave chāḍa — hē-chi āmhām gōḍa janma ghetām — Tukā says: no longing for mukti — taking birth-itself is sweet for us.
What it means
A 4-verse text of bhakta-confidence-by-childlike-demanding. The upakāra (favor) the devotee does the Lord is taking the burden off himself onto the Lord. The protective image: Sudarśana-chakra circles the house. Final claim: no want of mukti — rebirth is sweet.
For someone today
Mature dependence: stating need plainly, refusing to handle it alone, and finding the cycle of life itself sweet — because it is now occupied with this Other.
Where this applies
- When someone finally admits they need help instead of insisting they can manage everything alone
- When a person asks directly and simply for what they need rather than hiding their needs out of pride
- When you feel protected and secure enough to trust that hardship will not overwhelm your life
- When someone finds unexpected sweetness in an ongoing relationship of dependence rather than longing to be free of it