Abhanga 4382
Offer your whole self, body, speech, and mind, and hope that devotion stays with you so completely that it is the very last thing present when your life ends.
The verse
शेवटींची विनंती । ऐका ऐका कमळापती ॥१॥
काया वाचा मन । चरणीं असे समर्पण ॥ध्रु.॥
जीवपरमात्मा ऐक्यासि । सदा वसो हृदयेंसीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे देवा । कंठीं वसावें केशवा॥३॥
Literal translation
Final-vinantī — Kamaḷā-pati-listen-listen. Kāyā-vāchā-mana — charaṇa-samarpaṇa. Jīva-paramātma-ēkya — sadā-hrdaya-vasō. Tukā: deva — kaṇṭhīm-vasāvēm-Kēśavā.
What it means
A 3-verse final-prayer text. The last request — listen, listen, Lotus-husband. Body, speech, mind — at your feet, the full offering. Jīva and paramātmā in oneness — let it always dwell in (my) heart. Tukā says: Deva — dwell in my throat, Keśava. The 3-fold final-offering: 1. kāyā-vāchā-mana-samarpaṇa (body-speech-mind-offering at feet) 2. jīva-paramātma-ēkya-sadā-hrdaya (jīva-paramātma-unity always in heart) 3. Kēśava-kaṇṭhīm-vasāvē (Keśava dwell in throat — last-breath-Name-locus)
The closing kaṇṭhīm-vasāvē is significant — at-death the Name in the throat is the soteriological-final-prerequisite.
For someone today
This is Tukaram's final prayer, and he asks to be heard one last time. He offers everything he has, his body, his speech, and his mind, completely at the feet of the divine, holding nothing back. He asks that the union of his own soul with the supreme spirit stay fixed in his heart forever, not just as an idea but as a lived reality. His last and most tender request is that Keshava dwell right in his throat, meaning he wants the divine Name to be the very last thing on his lips when his life ends. It is a plea for a life and a death both anchored completely in devotion.
मराठी: हा तुकारामांचा अखेरचा प्रार्थना-अभंग आहे, आणि ते शेवटचे ऐकावे अशी विनवणी करतात. आपले शरीर, वाणी आणि मन काहीही राखून न ठेवता पूर्णपणे देवाच्या चरणी अर्पण करतात. जीव आणि परमात्मा यांचे ऐक्य सदैव आपल्या हृदयात वसावे अशी ते इच्छा व्यक्त करतात, ती केवळ कल्पना नसून प्रत्यक्ष अनुभूती असावी असे त्यांना वाटते. त्यांची शेवटची आणि सर्वात हळुवार विनंती अशी आहे की केशवाने त्यांच्या कंठातच वास करावा, म्हणजे शेवटच्या श्वासाला त्यांच्या ओठांवर देवाचे नामच असावे. संपूर्ण आयुष्य आणि मृत्यूही भक्तीत अंकित असावा अशी ही प्रार्थना आहे.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's final-vinamtī Kēśava-kaṇṭhīm-vasō canonical