Abhanga 291
This abhang names the sajjana-totality claim:
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
English: 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 | "the pārasa — no hīna (lower / inferior) part of the body" |
| दीपा नाहीं पाठीं पोटीं अंधकार | "the lamp — no andhakāra (darkness) behind or inside" |
| सर्वांगें साकर अवघी गोड | "sugar — sarvāngē (all-over) sweet" |
| तैसा सज्जनापासून | "similarly, from the sajjana**" |
| पाहातां अवगुण मिळे चि ना | "looking — no avaguṇa is 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
This abhang names the sajjana-totality claim:
- Real-sajjana is uniformly good — no avaguṇa anywhere. Pāhātām avaguṇa miḷē chi nā. If you find avaguṇa in someone you thought was sajjana, two possibilities:
- They were not sajjana — not all who appear as sajjana are.
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Your looking-was-faulty — you found avaguṇa where there is none. In real-sajjana, the avaguṇa-finding fails.
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Four-fold exemplar: sandalwood, pārasa, lamp, sugar. Each illustrates uniform-quality throughout. Sandalwood-fragrance, pārasa-transformative, lamp-light, sugar-sweetness — all uniform throughout the substance. Real-quality does not have low-quality parts.
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This is anti-fault-finding-with-saints (compare 246). Don't go looking for the avaguṇa in the sajjana; you will not find it. (And — if you do find it, the diagnosis is the looker, not the sajjana, or the so-called-sajjana is not the real-sajjana.)
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This is structurally radical. Most psychological-tradition would say every person has both light and shadow. Tukaram's sajjana-claim is structurally different: the real-sajjana has no shadow-part. (Compare 250's I-and-mine-stayed-distant — when I-and-mine is set aside, the shadow-source is dissolved.)
For today: don't look for avaguṇa in the real-sajjana; recognize the four-fold exemplars; trust that real-quality is uniform throughout; if you keep finding avaguṇa, check your own looking, or check whether the so-called-sajjana is the real one.
This abhang is important methodologically: it gives the positive-form of the anti-fault-finding teaching (246). 246 said don't look for faults in saints (the analytic-stance erases sukṛta); 291 says the real-sajjana has no faults to find anyway. The two together are the complete-doctrine.
मराठी: ही ओवी sajjana-totality claim नाव सांगते:
- Real-sajjana uniformly good — कुठेही avaguṇa नाही. पाहातां अवगुण मिळे चि ना. तुम्हाला sajjana वाटलेल्या व्यक्तीमध्ये avaguṇa सापडला — दोन शक्यता:
- ती व्यक्ती sajjana नव्हती — sajjana वाटणारे सगळे sajjana नसतात.
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तुमचं looking-faulty होतं — जिथे avaguṇa नाही तिथे शोधलात. Real-sajjana मध्ये avaguṇa-finding fail होतं.
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चार exemplar: sandalwood, pārasa, lamp, sugar. प्रत्येक uniform-quality throughout illustrate करतं. Sandalwood-fragrance, pārasa-transformative, lamp-light, sugar-sweetness — सर्व substance throughout uniform. Real-quality ला low-quality parts नसतात.
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हे anti-fault-finding-with-saints (246 compare). Sajjana मध्ये avaguṇa शोधायला जाऊ नका; सापडणार नाही. (आणि — सापडलाच तर diagnosis looker मध्ये, sajjana मध्ये नाही, किंवा so-called-sajjana real-sajjana नव्हता.)
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हे structurally radical. बहुतेक psychological-tradition म्हणतात प्रत्येक व्यक्तीला light आणि shadow दोन्ही. तुकारामांचा sajjana-claim structurally वेगळा: real-sajjana ला shadow-part नाही.
आज: real-sajjana मध्ये avaguṇa शोधू नका; चार exemplars ओळखा; real-quality throughout uniform विश्वास ठेवा; avaguṇa सतत सापडत असेल — तुमचं स्वतःचं looking check करा, किंवा so-called-sajjana real आहे का check करा.
Methodologically महत्त्वाचं: ही ओवी anti-fault-finding teaching (246) चं positive-form देते. 246 saints मध्ये faults शोधू नका (analytic-stance sukṛta erase करते) म्हणालं; 291 real-sajjana ला faults शोधायला नाहीतच anyway म्हणतं. दोन्ही एकत्र complete-doctrine.
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.