Abhanga 51
Don't cross continents looking for pilgrimage sites. The saint's feet contain every tirtha. Embrace there is moksha.
The verse
आलिंगनें घडे । मोक्ष सायुज्यता जोडे ॥१॥ ऐसा संताचा महिमा । जाली बोलायाची सीमा ॥ध्रु.॥ तीर्थे पर्वकाळ । अवघीं पायांपें सकळ ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे देवा । त्यांची केली पावे सेवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: By (their) embrace, moksha and sāyujya are obtained. Such is the greatness of the saint — this is the limit of what speech can say. Pilgrimage-places, holy festivals — all of them are at (their) feet. Tuka says: O God, one who renders them service reaches (you).
मराठी: त्यांच्या आलिंगनाने मोक्ष-सायुज्यता मिळते. असा संताचा महिमा — बोलायचीही सीमा. तीर्थे आणि पर्वकाळ — सगळे त्यांच्या पायांशी. तुकाराम म्हणतात — देवा, त्यांची सेवा केली तर पावतंच.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| आलिंगनें घडे | "by (their) embrace it happens" |
| मोक्ष सायुज्यता जोडे | "moksha and sāyujya (union with the deity) are obtained" |
| ऐसा संताचा महिमा | "such is the greatness of the saint" |
| जाली बोलायाची सीमा | "(this) is the limit of speaking (about it)" |
| तीर्थे पर्वकाळ अवघीं पायांपें सकळ | "all pilgrimage-places and holy-times — all at (their) feet" |
| त्यांची केली पावे सेवा | "(if) one performs their service, one reaches" |
What it means
A saint-praise (sant-mahima) abhang. The structural claim: the saint's body — specifically the saint's feet — contains everything the conventional bhakti-economy distributes. The far-away pilgrimage sites (तीर्थे) and the special holy-times (पर्वकाळ) are all at the feet of the saint. The implication: do not distribute your devotion across far places and times. Find the saint nearby; the embrace itself is moksha. [T] [Tradition]
For someone today
English: This abhang relocates pilgrimage. The instinct to travel for the spiritual experience — to the holy site, the famous teacher, the special place — is what Tukaram is interrupting. The saint's feet, available locally, contain what you would have gone abroad to find. The embrace is the moksha; the long journey is unnecessary.
The harder application: the availability of the local saint usually goes unrecognized precisely because they are local. The far is romanticized; the near is dismissed. The verse asks you to invert that.
मराठी: ही ओवी तीर्थयात्रा relocate करते. आध्यात्मिक अनुभवासाठी प्रवास करायचा reflex — पवित्र स्थळी, प्रसिद्ध गुरूकडे, विशेष ठिकाणी — हाच तुकाराम interrupt करत आहेत. संताचे पाय स्थानिक उपलब्ध आहेत आणि त्यात तुम्ही दूरवर जाऊन शोधलं असतं ते आहे. आलिंगन हीच मोक्ष; लांब प्रवास अनावश्यक.
कठीण लागू: स्थानिक संताची उपलब्धता बहुतेक वेळा ओळखली जात नाही — कारण तो स्थानिक आहे. लांबचं रोमांचित होतं; जवळचं नाकारलं जातं. ओवी हे उलट करायला सांगते.
Where this applies
- When you're planning a pilgrimage abroad. Check whether the local awake person doesn't already contain it.
- When you've been searching far. पायांपें सकळ. The near is the destination.
- When you're hesitating to embrace a teacher's presence. The embrace is the moksha.