Abhanga 2681
Tukaram warns that disrespecting genuinely good people costs you in both worlds, because losing trust in them lets your own faults grow unchecked.
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: the 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.
मराठी: संतांची निंदा किंवा त्यांना त्रास देणे यावर हा अभंग कठोर इशारा देतो. तुकाराम स्पष्टपणे सांगतात: संतांना छळणाऱ्याला पृथ्वीवरही पाय ठेवायला जागा उरत नाही. आणि याचे आंतरिक कारण नेमकेपणाने सांगितले आहे: संतांवरचा विश्वास कमी झाला की स्वतःचे दोष अधिकच बळावतात. संतांवरचा विश्वास हा पापावरचा एक अंकुश असतो; तो काढून टाकला की पाप बळकट होते. शेवटी दिलेली प्रतिमा स्पष्ट पर्याय देते: वासरासारखे सहज पोषण घेणारे व्हावे, किंवा दुर्दैवाने पाठलाग होणारे व्हावे. दोनच पर्याय आहेत, मधले काही नाही.
Where this applies
- When you're tempted to mock, dismiss, or tear down someone genuinely trying to live well
- When you notice your own bad habits getting bolder after you stop respecting the people who used to keep you in check
- When you're deciding whether to stay close to good influences or drift away from them
- When you want a clear picture of why trust in good people matters for your own character