Abhanga 3772
True surrender means admitting you are stuck in ordinary life, trusting that a loving God cannot bear to watch you suffer, and letting go of control over how you are cared for.
The verse
आळिकरा कोठें साहातें कठिण । आपुला तें प्राण देऊं पाहे ॥१॥
सांभाळावें मायबापें कृपादृष्टी । पीडितां तो दृष्टी देखों नये ॥ध्रु.॥
अंतरलों मागें संवसारा हातीं । पायांपें सरतीं जालों नाहीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तुम्ही विचारा जी देवा । ठेवाल तें ठेवा कोणे परी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Āḷikarā kōṭhem sāhāte kaṭhiṇa — where do they bear the cry's hardness?; āpulā te prāṇa deūm pāhe — they wish to give their own prāṇa. Sāmbhāḷāvem māyabāpe krpā-drṣṭī — let māyabāpa take care with gracious gaze; pīḍitām tō drṣṭī dekhō naye — when tormented, the eye cannot bear to see. Amtaralōm māgem samvasārā hātīm — I fell behind into samsāra's hand; pāyāmpe saratīm jālōm nāhīm — I have not reached the feet. Tukā mhaṇe tumhī vichārā jī devā — Tukā says: you consider, Deva; ṭhevāla te ṭhevā kōṇe parī — keep (me) however you keep.
What it means
A 3-verse total-surrender petition using the canonical parent-child image. Where-do-they-bear-the-cry? — parents-give-their-own-prāṇa; when-child-is-tortured the-parent's-eye-can't-bear-to-see; I-fell-behind-into-samsāra's-hand, haven't-reached-(your)-feet; keep-me-in-whatever-way-you-wish.
For someone today
Tukaram compares himself to a crying child whose pain no loving parent can bear to watch. He says he has fallen behind, caught in the grip of ordinary worldly life, and has still not managed to reach Vitthal's feet. Rather than demanding a particular outcome, he simply hands the decision over, asking God to keep him however God sees fit. This is what real surrender looks like: admitting you are stuck, trusting that the one who loves you cannot ignore your suffering, and letting go of control over the result.
मराठी: तुकाराम स्वतःची तुलना रडणाऱ्या मुलाशी करतात, ज्याचे दुःख कोणत्याही प्रेमळ आईवडिलांना पाहवत नाही. ते म्हणतात की आपण संसारात अडकून मागे राहिलो आहोत आणि अजून विठ्ठलाच्या पायांपर्यंत पोहोचलो नाही. एखादा ठराविक परिणाम मागण्याऐवजी ते सगळा निर्णय देवावर सोपवतात आणि म्हणतात, तुला योग्य वाटेल तसे मला ठेव. खरे शरणागत होणे म्हणजे हेच — आपण अडकलो आहोत हे मान्य करणे, जो प्रेम करतो त्याला आपले दुःख दुर्लक्षित करता येणार नाही यावर विश्वास ठेवणे आणि निकालावरचा ताबा सोडून देणे.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's parent-can't-bear-child's-suffering + keep-me-as-you-wish canonical
- Companion to mother-cuts-throat (2842) extreme-abandonment petition