Abhanga 3758
Once you have surrendered yourself entirely to someone's care, their neglect becomes their own shame to bear, not yours.
The verse
आतां देवा मोकळिलें । तुम्ही भलें दिसेना ॥१॥
आतां नाहीं जीवभाव । उरला ठाव वेगळा ॥ध्रु.॥
सांभाळुन घ्यावें देवा । आपणासवा यावरि ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे नग्न भाज । तरि ते लाज स्वामीसी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Ātām Devā mōkaḷile — now Deva (you have) released (me); tumhī bhale disenā — (in this) you do not look good. Ātām nāhīm jīva-bhāva — now no jīva-bhāva (remains); uralā ṭhāva vegaḷā — only a separate ṭhāva is left. Sāmbhāḷuna ghyāve devā — take charge, Deva; āpaṇāsavā yāvari — (take me) with yourself henceforth. Tukā mhaṇe nagna bhāja — Tukā says: if (the servant) roams naked; tari te lāja svāmīsī — then that shame (is) the master's.
What it means
A 3-verse leveraging-petition. Deva-you-released-me; you-don't-look-good-(this-is-not-honorable-for-you); no-jīva-bhāva-left, only-a-separate-ṭhāva; take-charge, take-with-yourself; if-servant-roams-naked, the-shame-is-the-master's. Classic Tukārām bargaining-leverage with the Lord.
For someone today
Tukaram speaks boldly to God, almost scolding him, saying that if he has been abandoned now, it does not reflect well on God at all. He says there is nothing left of his own separate life or feeling, only an empty place where his sense of self used to be. So he asks God directly to take charge of him and keep him close from here on. Then he makes his sharpest point: if a servant is left to wander around naked and destitute, the shame of that falls on the master, not on the servant.
मराठी: तुकाराम देवाशी थेट, जवळजवळ धारेवर धरल्यासारखे बोलतात, म्हणतात की जर आता माझा त्याग केला असेल, तर ते तुम्हाला शोभणारे नाही. आपले वेगळे जीवभाव आता उरलेच नाही, फक्त एक रिकामी जागा उरली आहे असे ते सांगतात. म्हणून ते देवाला थेट विनवतात की आता माझी जबाबदारी घ्या आणि मला आपल्याजवळ ठेवा. आणि सर्वात तीक्ष्ण मुद्दा मांडतात: सेवक जर उघडा-नागडा फिरत राहिला, तर त्याची लाज सेवकाची नसून धन्याची असते.
Where this applies
- When you feel abandoned after having given everything of yourself to someone or something
- When you have let go of your separate sense of self and now depend entirely on another's care
- When you need to hold someone accountable for a responsibility they took on but have not honored
- When you argue, even boldly, that your struggles reflect on the one who claimed responsibility for you