Abhanga 2801
Placing your heart and trust in the feet of true sants brings you to God on its own, which is why holding back from serving them matters so much.
The verse
संतसेवेसि अंग चोरी । दृष्टी न पडो तयावरी ॥१॥
ऐसियासी व्याली रांड । जळो जळो तिचें तोंड ॥ध्रु.॥
संतचरणीं ठेवितां भाव । आपेंआप भेटे देव ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे संतसेवा । माझ्या पूर्वजांचा ठेवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Santa-sevēsī anga chōrī — (one who) doesanga-chōrī(body-stealing, holding-back) from santa-sevā; drṣṭi na paḍō tayāvarī — let thedrṣṭi(gaze) not fall on him. Aisiyāsī vyālī rāṇḍa — such-a-one —vyālī rāṇḍa(therāṇḍa(degraded-woman) who-bore-him); jaḷō jaḷō tichē tōṇḍa — let-her-mouth-burn, let-her-mouth-burn. Santa-charaṇī ṭhevitām bhāva — placing bhāva at the sant-feet; āpem-āpa bheṭē Deva — Deva meetsāpem-āpa(of-itself, on-its-own). Tukā says: santa-sevā mājhyā pūrvajāñcā ṭhevā — santa-sevā is mypūrvajāñcā ṭhevā(ancestors' stored-inheritance).
What it means
A strong santa-sevā-foundational verse. Santa-sevēsī anga chōrī — drṣṭi na paḍō tayāvarī — the one who steals-his-body-away from santa-sevā — let the gaze not fall on him. Anga-chōrī (body-stealing, withholding-the-body) — refusing-to-do-the-physical-service. Tukārām's-response: don't even let your gaze fall on such a one. (Compare 2696's fajita-khōrā-mhaṇatām-baravā-ugā-rahā.)
The dhrūpada is unusually-harsh: aisiyāsī vyālī rāṇḍa — jaḷō jaḷō tichē tōṇḍa — the rāṇḍa who-bore-such-a-one — let her mouth burn, let her mouth burn. The vyālī rāṇḍa (the rāṇḍa-mother-who-gave-birth) — let her tōṇḍa (mouth) burn. The doubled jaḷō jaḷō (burn, burn) is emphatic. This is among Tukārām's harshest-curses; he reserves it for santa-sevā-avoiders.
The second verse names the operational-mechanism: santa-charaṇī ṭhevitām bhāva — āpem-āpa bheṭē Deva — placing bhāva at the sant-feet — Deva meets of-itself. The mechanism: bhāva-at-sant-feet → Deva-meets-of-itself. The Deva-meeting doesn't-require-direct-effort-toward-Deva; the sant-feet are the channel.
The close: santa-sevā mājhyā pūrvajāñcā ṭhevā — santa-sevā is my ancestors' stored-inheritance. The bhakta declares: santa-sevā is my pūrvajān-ṭhevā (inheritance from the ancestors). It is the family-tradition, not invented-now.
For someone today
This is one of Tukaram's strongest calls to serve the saints. Anyone who holds back and refuses to serve them, he says, should not even be looked at, and he curses the mother who bore such a person, in some of the harshest language he uses anywhere in the Gatha. That sharpness is there to show just how important this service is. The reason becomes clear in the next line: when you place your faith at the saints' feet, you meet God on your own, without struggle, so service to the saints is the easy, direct path. Tukaram closes by calling this service his ancestors' inheritance, a tradition passed down through his family rather than something he invented.
मराठी: संतसेवेचे महत्त्व सांगणारा हा तुकारामांचा एक अतिशय ठाम अभंग आहे. जो संतसेवेपासून अंग चोरतो, त्याच्याकडे दृष्टीही टाकू नये असे ते म्हणतात, आणि अशा माणसाला जन्म देणाऱ्या आईला ते शिव्याही देतात — गाथेतील सर्वात कठोर शब्दांपैकी हे आहेत. हा तिखटपणा संतसेवेचे महत्त्व अधोरेखित करण्यासाठीच आहे. पुढच्या ओळीत याचे कारण स्पष्ट होते: संतांच्या चरणी भाव ठेवला की देव आपोआप, सहज भेटतो — म्हणजे संतसेवा हाच सोपा आणि थेट मार्ग आहे. शेवटी तुकाराम संतसेवेला आपल्या पूर्वजांचा ठेवा म्हणतात — ही त्यांच्या घराण्यातून चालत आलेली परंपरा आहे, स्वतः शोधून काढलेली नाही.
Where this applies
- When you feel reluctant to offer real time and effort in serving someone wise, devoted, or spiritually advanced
- When you want a simple way to feel closer to the divine without complicated practice
- When you are carrying on a family or community tradition of service and wonder why it matters so much
- When you notice yourself holding back physical effort while still expecting spiritual reward