संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1255 of 4582

Abhanga 1255

For today: sun-lamp-diamond can show only the visible; for the adṛśya, saint's darśana — go to their feet without waiting to be called.

When you would understand the saints' work — sun, lamp, diamond show only the visible; saints reveal the adṛśya

The verse

रवि दीप हीरा दाविती देखणे । अदृश्य दर्षने संतांचे नी ॥१॥ त्यांचा महिमा काय वर्णू मी पामर । न कळे तो साचार ब्रम्हादिकां ॥ध्रु.॥ तापली चंदन निववितो कुडी । त्रिगुण तो काढी संतसंग ॥२॥ मायबापें पिंड पाळीला माया । जन्ममरण जाया संतसंग ॥३॥ संतांचें वचन वारी जन्मदुःख । मिष्टान्न तें भूकनिवारण ॥४॥ तुका म्हणे जवळी न पाचारितां जावें । संतचरणीं भावें रिघावया ॥५॥

Literal translation

English: Sun, lamp, diamond — show only what's visible; the saints' darśana shows the adṛśya. What can I, pāmara, describe of their mahimā — even brahmādikas don't know it truly. When heated, candana cools the body — the triguṇa, samta-sanga removes. Mother-and-father raised the piṇḍa with māyā — janma-maraṇa, samta-sanga (removes). Saints' vacana wards off janma-duḥkha — sweet food removes hunger. Tuka says: go without being called — to enter the saint's feet with bhāva.

मराठी: रवि-दीप-हीरा — फक्त देखणें (दिसणारें) दाखवतात — संतांचें दर्शन — अदृश्य पण दाखवतें. त्यांचा महिमा मी पामर काय वर्णू? — साचार तो ब्रह्मादिकांना-हि कळत नाहीं. तापलें — चंदन कुडी निववतो — त्रिगुण — संत-संग काढतो. मायबापांनीं पिंड माया-नें पाळला — जन्म-मरण जातें संत-संगानें. संतांचें वचन — जन्म-दुःख वारतें — मिष्टान्न — भूक-निवारण. Tukā म्हणे — कोणी न पाचारतां जावें — संत-चरणीं भावानें रिघावया.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
रवि दीप हीरा दाविती देखणे "ravi (sun), dīpa, hīrā — show only the dēkhaṇē (visible)"
अदृश्य दर्षने संतांचे नी "the saints' darśana (shows) even the adṛśya (invisible)"
न कळे तो साचार ब्रम्हादिकां "not known truly even to brahmādikas"
तापली चंदन निववितो कुडी "(when) heated — candana cools the body (kuḍī)"
त्रिगुण तो काढी संतसंग "the triguṇa — samta-sanga removes"
मायबापें पिंड पाळीला माया "māybāpas raised the piṇḍa with māyā"
जन्ममरण जाया संतसंग "janma-maraṇa goes — by samta-sanga"
संतांचें वचन वारी जन्मदुःख "saints' vacana wards off janma-duḥkha"
मिष्टान्न तें भूकनिवारण "sweet-food removes hunger"
जवळी न पाचारितां जावें "go without being pācāritām (called/summoned)"
संतचरणीं भावें रिघावया "to enter (righāvayā) saint's feet with bhāva"

What it means

Post-Sāsuravāsa, return to saint-praise mode. After the 8-abhang sāsuravāsa cycle, Tuka returns to praising saints — and the entry-point is precisely what the sāsuravāsa needed: the saints reveal the adṛśya. Sun, lamp, diamond show only what's already visible (the dēkhaṇē); the saints' darśana shows what cannot otherwise be seen.

The four pairings: 1. Ravi-dīpa-hīrā : adṛśya-darśana samtāncē — visible vs. invisible 2. Tāpalī candana nivavitō kuḍī : triguṇa samta-sanga kāḍhī — candana cools the body : samta-sanga removes the triguṇa 3. Mayabāpa piṇḍa pāḷīlā : samta-sanga janma-maraṇa jāya — parents raised the body : saint-sanga removes janma-maraṇa 4. Samtānce vacana janma-duḥkha vārī : miṣṭānna bhūka-nivāraṇa — saint's word wards janma-duḥkha : sweet food removes hunger

In each pair, the worldly remedy addresses the surface; the saint addresses the depths.

The closing prescription is unusual: javaḷī na pācāritām jāvēgo (to them) without being summoned. Don't wait for an invitation; that the saints exist is itself the invitation.

[T]

For someone today

For today: sun-lamp-diamond can show only the visible; for the adṛśya, saint's darśana — go to their feet without waiting to be called.

Where this applies

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