Abhanga 2681
One who kṣōbhavī (agitates, vexes) the sants in any prakāra (manner) — his barē (welfare) is not in either world.
The verse
संतांसी क्षोभवी कोण्या ही प्रकारें । त्याचें नव्हें बरें उभयलोकीं ॥१॥
देवाचा तो वैरी शत्रु दावेदार । पृथ्वी ही थार नेदी तया ॥ध्रु.॥
संतांपाशीं ज्याचा नुरे चि विश्वास । त्याचे जाले दोष बळिवंत ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे क्षीर वासराच्या अंगें । किंवा धांवे लागें विषमें मारूं ॥३॥
Literal translation
One who kṣōbhavī (agitates, vexes) the sants in any prakāra (manner) — his barē (welfare) is not in either world. He is Deva's vairī (enemy), śatru (foe), dāvēdāra (claimant-opponent); the prthvī (earth) itself gives him no thāra (foothold). One in whom viśvāsa (trust) toward sants na urē chi (does not remain) — his dōṣa (sins) become baḷivanta (powerful). Tukā says: kṣīra (milk) by the vāsarāñcyā angē (calf's body) — or the chase runs after by viṣamēm mārūm (kill-by-misfortune).
What it means
A strong anti-santa-nindā warning verse. Santāmsī kṣōbhavī kōṇyā hī prakārē — tyāchē navhē barē ubhaya-lōkīm — one who agitates the sants in any manner — his welfare is not in either world. Ubhaya-lōkīm (in both worlds — this and the next) — the consequence is total.
The dhrūpada makes the consequence explicit: Devācā tō vairī śatru dāvēdāra — prthvī hī thāra nēdī tayā — he is Deva's enemy, foe, opponent — the earth itself gives him no foothold. Three different enemy-words (vairī enemy, śatru foe, dāvēdāra legal-opponent) and the cosmological consequence: prthvī thāra nēdī — the earth gives no foothold. The one who agitates sants is treated by the cosmos as having no proper-place anywhere.
The second verse names the inner-mechanism: santāmpāśīm jyāñcā na urē chi viśvāsa — tyāche jālē dōṣa baḷivanta — one in whom trust toward sants does not remain — his sins become powerful. The loss-of-trust-in-sants is itself the engine that makes one's dōṣa (sins) baḷivanta (powerful). Trust-in-sants is the inner-restraint that keeps sins weak; without it, sins are amplified.
The close uses two contrasting natural-images: kṣīra vāsarāñcyā angē — kimvā dhāmvē lāgē viṣamēm mārūm — milk-by-the-calf's-body — or, the chase pursues-by-misfortune-to-kill. The first image: the calf draws milk from the mother by its body, naturally. The second image: chasing-and-killing-by-misfortune. The contrast: one can be like the calf — drawing nourishment naturally from the sants — or one can be the one chased by misfortune to be killed. The choice is offered.
For someone today
A strict warning against any form of santa-nindā or sant-harassment. Tukārām is unflinching: the earth gives no foothold to one who agitates sants. And the inner-engine is named precisely: loss-of-trust-in-sants amplifies one's own sins. The trust-in-sants is a bandhu (restraint) on sin; remove it, and sin grows powerful. The closing-image-choice is stark: be the calf drawing nourishment naturally, or be the one chased-by-misfortune. Two options, no middle.
Where this applies
- A strict standard against any form of santa-nindā or harassment of the worthy
- Recognizing that trust-in-sants is a bandhu on one's own sins
- The earth-gives-no-foothold consequence-image
- The calf-vs-chased contrast — natural-nourishment vs being-pursued-by-misfortune