Abhanga 594
If saints arrive while you are worshipping God's image, set the image aside and honor the saints instead, because the living presence of good people, regardless of caste, matters more than ritual and matters even more when more of them gather together.
The verse
करितां देवार्चन । घरा आले संतजन ॥१॥ देव सारावे परते । संत पूजावे आरते ॥ध्रु.॥. शाळिग्राम विष्णुमूर्ती । संत हो का भलते याती ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे संधी । अधिक वैष्णवांची मांदी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Doing dēvārcana — samta-jana came home. Deva — set aside — saints — pūjā with āratī. Śāḷigrāma viṣṇu-mūrti — saints — any yāti. Tuka says: samdhi — additional Vaiṣṇavas' māmdī.
मराठी: करितां देवार्चन — घरा आले संतजन. देव सारावे परते — संत पूजावे आरते. शाळिग्राम विष्णुमूर्ती — संत हो का भलते याती. तुकाराम म्हणतां — संधी — अधिक वैष्णवांची मांदी.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| करितां देवार्चन | "doing dēvārcana" |
| घरा आले संतजन | "samta-jana — came home" |
| देव सारावे परते | "deva — set aside" |
| संत पूजावे आरते | "saint — pūjā with āratī" |
| शाळिग्राम विष्णुमूर्ती | "śāḷigrāma viṣṇu-mūrti" |
| संत हो का भलते याती | "saints — of any yāti" |
| तुका म्हणे संधी | "samdhi" |
| अधिक वैष्णवांची मांदी | "additional Vaiṣṇavas' māmdī" |
What it means
A famous saint-priority-over-deva-pūjā abhang. One of the strongest saint-priority statements in the Gatha. Three claims:
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करितां देवार्चन — घरा आले संतजन — देव सारावे परते — संत पूजावे आरते — doing dēvārcana — samta-jana came — deva — set aside — saints — pūjā āratī. The opening-saint-priority-claim: while doingdēvārcana(deva-worship); samta-jana (saint-people) came home;the deva should be parate sārāvē (set aside, moved away);the saints — pūjā with āratī (worship-with-the-lamp-circling).Saint-priority: when saints come, set-aside-the-deva-and-worship-the-saints-instead. (This is one of the most-cited Tukaram-claims in Maharashtrian-bhakti-tradition: the saints-take-precedence-over-the-deva-Himself.)
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शाळिग्राम विष्णुमूर्ती — संत हो का भलते याती — śāḷigrāma viṣṇu-mūrti — saints — any yāti. The anti-jāti-claim: (don't worry about)śāḷigrāma(the sacred-stone-image of Viṣṇu) orviṣṇu-mūrti(Viṣṇu-idol); saints — let them be of anyyāti(jāti, caste, kind). No-jāti-bar-for-saints; the saint of any-jāti takes-precedence-over-the-jāti-purity-rules-of-mūrti-worship. Anti-jāti-saint-priority.
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तुका म्हणे संधी — अधिक वैष्णवांची मांदी — Tuka says: samdhi — additional Vaiṣṇavas' māmdī. The closing-additional-Vaiṣṇavas-claim: Tuka says: at thesamdhi(juncture, opportune-moment); the additionalmāmdī(gathering, throng) ofVaiṣṇavas(devotees-of-Viṣṇu) is greater. More-Vaiṣṇavas, more-saint-presence, more-precedence-over-mūrti-worship. Vaiṣṇava-throng-as-occasion.
[T]
For someone today
Tukaram makes a bold, famous claim: if you're in the middle of worshipping God's image and saints walk into your home, set the idol aside and worship the saints instead, with the same lamp-waving reverence you'd give the deity. It doesn't matter what caste or background the saint comes from; that question simply does not apply here. And when more devotees gather together, that gathering itself becomes an even greater occasion than the ritual you were doing. The living presence of good people, he says, outranks the stone and the sacred image.
मराठी: तुकाराम एक ठाम आणि प्रसिद्ध दावा करतात: तुम्ही देवाची पूजा करत असताना जर संत घरी आले, तर मूर्ती बाजूला ठेवा आणि तितक्याच भक्तीभावाने, आरतीने संतांची पूजा करा. संत कोणत्या जातीचे आहेत हा प्रश्नच इथे लागू होत नाही. आणि जेव्हा अधिक भक्त एकत्र जमतात, तेव्हा तो जमाव स्वतःच तुम्ही करत असलेल्या पूजाविधीपेक्षाही मोठा प्रसंग बनतो. चांगल्या माणसांची जिवंत उपस्थिती, ते म्हणतात, दगडाच्या आणि पवित्र मूर्तीच्याही वर आहे.
Where this applies
- Saint-comes — set aside deva. Saint-precedence.
- Saint-āratī instead. Saint-pūjā.
- Any yāti. Anti-jāti.
- Vaiṣṇavas' māmdī—samdhi. Gathering-occasion.