संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2464 of 4582

Abhanga 2464

For today: Pāṇḍuranga is sukha-rūpa ; no wandering, no shaving, no sādhana-pressure ; Chandrabhāgā bath = Hari-kathā; sant-sanga is rarer than Vaikuṇṭha .

When you feel you must suffer through extreme rituals to be considered truly devoted.

When you visit a holy place and wonder if a simple act of devotion is enough.

When you find yourself calmer and steadier simply from being around people of genuine faith.

The verse

सुखरूप ऐसें कोण दुजें सांगा । माझ्या पांडुरंगा सारिकें तें ॥१॥ न लगे हिंडणें मुंडणें ते कांहीं । साधनाची नाहीं आटाआटी ॥ध्रु.॥ चंद्रभागे स्नान विध तो हरिकथा । समाधान चित्ता सर्वकाळ ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे काला वैकुंठीं दुर्लभ । विशेष तो लाभ संतसंग ॥३॥

Literal translation

Tell me, who else is sukha-rūpa like my Pāṇḍuranga. No need for wandering or shaving — no pressure of sādhana. Chandrabhāgā bath, rite is Hari-kathā — chitta-samādhāna always. Tuka says: kāla rare in Vaikuṇṭha — special gain is sant-sanga.

What it means

THE NO-WANDERING-NO-SHAVING + SANT-SAṄGA-RARER-THAN-VAIKUṆṬHA ABHANG.

THE ANTI-ASCETIC: na lagē hiṇḍaṇē muṇḍaṇē tē kāmhīm — sādhanāchī nāhīm āṭā-āṭī — no need for wandering or shaving — no pressure of sādhana. Hiṇḍaṇē = wandering (sannyāsi-pilgrimage). Muṇḍaṇē = shaving (head-shaving, sannyāsi-rite). NO-wandering, NO-shaving; no-sādhana-pressure (āṭā-āṭī). Direct rejection of-ascetic-tradition-requirements.

The substitute: Chandrabhāgē snāna vidha tō Hari-kathā — samādhāna chittā sarva-kāḷa — Chandrabhāgā bath, rite is Hari-kathā — chitta-samādhāna always. Chandrabhāgā-bath (at Pandharpur) is-enough; the rite (vidhi) is Hari-kathā; chitta-samādhāna is-always-there.

THE CELEBRATED CLOSING: Tukā mhaṇē kāla Vaikuṇṭhīm durlabha — viśēṣa tō lābha santa-sanga — kāla rare in Vaikuṇṭha — special gain is sant-sanga. Even-in-Vaikuṇṭha, kāla (the special-time/festive-fellowship) is-rare; the-special-gain is santa-sanga (saint-company). One of the most-celebrated assertions of-saint-company's-supremacy — superior even to Vaikuṇṭha.

The combined claim: at-Pandharpur, Chandrabhāgā-bath + Hari-kathā + sant-sanga provides what-asceticism-and-even-Vaikuṇṭha cannot. The Vārkarī-superiority-claim of-place-and-practice.

[T]

For someone today

For today: Pāṇḍuranga is sukha-rūpa; no wandering, no shaving, no sādhana-pressure; Chandrabhāgā bath = Hari-kathā; sant-sanga is rarer than Vaikuṇṭha.

Where this applies

When you feel pressured to adopt harsh rituals or renounce everything to prove your devotion is real
When you assume spiritual progress requires exhausting travel or difficult austerities
When you're near a sacred place or gathering and wonder if simple acts like a bath or listening to stories are enough
When you undervalue the comfort and steadiness that comes from being around good, faithful company