संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3296 of 4582

Abhanga 3296

Saints exist to lift up ordinary people, and like sandalwood's fragrance, their goodness reaches everyone near them without effort.

When you meet someone whose presence alone makes you want to be better

When you feel too flawed to properly thank someone who helped raise you up

When you notice a community's warmth and devotion spreading person to person, like fragrance

The verse

तुम्ही संत मायबाप कृपावंत । काय मी पतित कीर्ती वाणूं ॥१॥ अवतार तुम्हां धराया कारणें । उद्धरावें जन जड जीव ॥ध्रु.॥ वाढविलें सुख भक्ति भाव धर्म । कुळाचार नाम विठोबाचें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे गुण चंदनाचे अंगीं । तैसे तुम्ही जगीं संतजन ॥३॥

Literal translation

You-sants-māyabāpa-krpāvanta; what-can-patita-I-praise? Avatāra to-uplift jaḍa-jīva. Grew-sukha-bhakti-bhāva-dharma-kulāchāra-Nāma-Viṭhōbā. Tukā: like-guṇa-of-chandana, you-sants-in-jagat.

What it means

A 3-verse praise-of-sants. Sants-as-māyabāpa-and-chandana-of-the-world.

For someone today

Tukaram addresses the sants directly as loving, compassionate parents whose kindness he feels unworthy to even praise, calling himself a fallen man. He says their presence in the world exists precisely to lift up ordinary, spiritually dull people who couldn't rise on their own. Through them, joy, devotion, right feeling, family tradition, and the practice of chanting Vithoba's Name have all flourished. Like sandalwood, whose fragrance reaches everyone nearby without effort, the sants simply carry a quality that touches all who come close to them.

मराठी: तुकाराम संतांना प्रेमळ, कृपावंत आईवडिलांसारखे मानून थेट संबोधतात आणि स्वतःला पतित म्हणत त्यांची स्तुती करण्याची लायकीही नाही असे म्हणतात. ते सांगतात की सामान्य, जड बुद्धीच्या जीवांना स्वतःहून वर येता येत नाही, म्हणून त्यांना उद्धारण्यासाठीच संतांचे अवतरण जगात होते. त्यांच्यामुळेच सुख, भक्ती, भाव, कुळाचार आणि विठोबाच्या नामाचा प्रसार वाढला आहे. चंदनाच्या सुगंधाप्रमाणे, जो प्रयत्नाविना जवळच्या सर्वांपर्यंत पोहोचतो, संतांचा गुणही आपोआप जवळ येणाऱ्या प्रत्येकाला स्पर्शून जातो.

Where this applies

When you're inspired by someone whose kindness feels bigger than you can ever repay
When you feel spiritually stuck or dull and need someone else's example to lift you
When you notice good influence spreading from a person without them forcing it on anyone
When you want to thank a teacher or mentor but feel words fall short