Abhanga 291
Sandalwood is sandalwood through and through — even its hands and feet, so to speak, are sandalwood. The philosopher's stone has no inferior part; a lamp casts no darkness behind or inside itself; sugar is sweet all the way through. Tukaram says a true saint is the same way: look as closely as you like, and you will not find a flaw. If you do think you have found one, take it as a sign to look again — either the person was not truly a saint, or your own eye was searching for faults instead of goodness. Real goodness runs evenly through a person, the way fragrance runs through sandalwood; it does not have hidden weak spots waiting to be discovered.
The verse
चंदनाचे हात पाय ही चंदन । परिसा नाहीं हीन कोणी अंग ॥१॥ दीपा नाहीं पाठीं पोटीं अंधकार । सर्वांगें साकर अवघी गोड ॥ध्रु.॥ तुका म्हणे तैसा सज्जनापासून । पाहातां अवगुण मिळे चि ना ॥२॥
Literal translation
Sandalwood — hands-and-feet are also sandalwood. The pārasa — no hīna part of the body. The lamp — no andhakāra behind or inside. Sugar — sarvāngē sweet. Tuka says: similarly, from the sajjana — looking, no avaguṇa is found.
मराठी: चंदनाचे हात पाय ही चंदन — परिसा नाहीं हीन कोणी अंग. दीपा नाहीं पाठीं पोटीं अंधकार — सर्वांगें साकर अवघी गोड. तुकाराम म्हणतात — तैसा सज्जनापासून — पाहातां अवगुण मिळे चि ना.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| चंदनाचे हात पाय ही चंदन | "sandalwood — hands-and-feet are also sandalwood" |
| परिसा नाहीं हीन कोणी अंग | "thepārasa— nohīna(lower / inferior) part of the body" |
| दीपा नाहीं पाठीं पोटीं अंधकार | "the lamp — noandhakāra(darkness) behind or inside" |
| सर्वांगें साकर अवघी गोड | "sugar —sarvāngē(all-over) sweet" |
| तैसा सज्जनापासून | "similarly, from thesajjana" |
| पाहातां अवगुण मिळे चि ना | "looking — noavaguṇais found" |
What it means
A sajjana-totality abhang. Four exemplars and a closing-claim:
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चंदनाचे हात पाय ही चंदन — sandalwood — hands-and-feet are also sandalwood. Sandalwood is sandalwood throughout; no part of the sandalwood-body is non-sandalwood. The quality is uniform.
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परिसा नाहीं हीन कोणी अंग — pārasa — no hīna part of body. The pārasa (philosopher's stone) is uniformly transformative; no hīna (inferior) part-of-it. (Note: hīna here in the quality-sense, not the social-sense.)
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दीपा नाहीं पाठीं पोटीं अंधकार — lamp — no andhakāra behind or inside. The lamp radiates light from all sides; no shadow behind, no darkness inside. Light is total.
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सर्वांगें साकर अवघी गोड — sugar — all-over sweet. Every part of sugar is sweet; no part is non-sweet. Sweetness is total.
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तुका म्हणे तैसा सज्जनापासून — पाहातां अवगुण मिळे चि ना — similarly, from the sajjana — looking, no avaguṇa is found. The sajjana-claim. The sajjana is uniformly-good throughout; no avaguṇa-part exists. (Compare 246's don't bring saints' merits-and-faults to mind — same anti-fault-finding spirit; here, the structural-claim that there is no avaguṇa to find in the real-sajjana.)
[T]
For someone today
Sandalwood is sandalwood through and through — even its hands and feet, so to speak, are sandalwood. The philosopher's stone has no inferior part; a lamp casts no darkness behind or inside itself; sugar is sweet all the way through. Tukaram says a true saint is the same way: look as closely as you like, and you will not find a flaw. If you do think you have found one, take it as a sign to look again — either the person was not truly a saint, or your own eye was searching for faults instead of goodness. Real goodness runs evenly through a person, the way fragrance runs through sandalwood; it does not have hidden weak spots waiting to be discovered.
मराठी: चंदन हे आतबाहेर, हातापायांसकट पूर्णपणे चंदनच असतं. परिसाचा कोणताही भाग कमी दर्जाचा नसतो; दिव्याच्या मागे किंवा आत कुठेही अंधार नसतो; साखर सर्वांगाने गोडच असते. तुकाराम म्हणतात, खरा सज्जनही असाच असतो — कितीही बारकाईने पाहिलं तरी त्याच्यात दोष सापडत नाही. जर तुम्हाला दोष सापडलाच, तर समजून घ्या — एकतर ती व्यक्ती खरी सज्जन नव्हती, किंवा तुमची नजरच गुण न पाहता दोष शोधत होती. खरा चांगुलपणा माणसात सगळीकडे सारखाच पसरलेला असतो, जसा सुगंध चंदनात सगळीकडे पसरलेला असतो — त्यात लपलेले उणे दुवे नसतात.
Where this applies
- Real-sajjana is uniformly good. No avaguṇa part.
- Four exemplars: sandalwood, pārasa, lamp, sugar. Self-uniformity.
- If you find avaguṇa, check looker or check the sajjana-status.
- Positive-form of anti-fault-finding (246). Real-sajjana has none.