Abhanga 3439
Even good company can carry hidden risks, so honor people you admire from a healthy distance rather than losing yourself completely in closeness with them.
The verse
संतसंगतीं न करावा वास । एखादे गुणदोष अंगा येती ॥१॥
मग तया दोषा नाहीं परिहार । होय अपहार सुकृताचा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे नमस्कारावे दुरून । अंतरीं धरून राहें रूप ॥३॥
Literal translation
Samtasangatīm na karāvā vāsa — don't make vāsa (intimate-dwelling) in sant-sangati; ekhāde guṇadōṣa angā yetī — some guṇa-dōṣa come onto body. Maga tayā dōṣā nāhī parihāra — then for those dōṣas, no parihāra; hōya apahāra sukrtāñcā — the apahāra of sukrta happens. Tukā mhaṇe namaskārāve durūna — Tukā says: namaskara from afar; antarīm dharūna rāhe rūpa — holding (their) rūpa in antar.
What it means
A nuanced 3-verse warning by Tukārām about sant-sanga overreach.
The argument: Don't-make-too-close-vāsa in-sant-sanga — some-guṇa-dōṣa (qualities-and-faults of-the-sant or-of-the-followers) may-come-on-body; then-no-parihāra; sukrta is-stolen. Therefore: namaskara-from-afar; hold-rūpa-in-antar.
This is a counter-balance to Tukārām's-stronger sant-sanga-praise (3050 sants'-māgī-māti, 3131 bhakta-veneration-framework, 2887 sant-pūjā). It-suggests that-even-sant-sanga can-have-side-effects if-over-intimate. The pragmatic-conclusion: physical-distance + internal-image is-the-safe-mode.
The verse can-be-read-as: (1) warning-against-false-sants who-may-have-dōṣas; or (2) warning-against-attaching-to-sant-personalities rather-than-to-Hari-through-the-sant; or (3) warning-against-pretentious-sangati-with-bad-elements that-passes-as-sant-sanga.
For someone today
Tukārām's nuanced sant-sanga warning. Do not make (intimate) dwelling in sant-sangati — some qualities or faults may come on (your) body. Then for those faults, there is no clearing; (your) merit goes into theft. Do namaskara from afar; hold (their) form in (your) inner-place. The verse permits the bhakta-realism: even sant-sanga that becomes too close has risks; reverence at a distance plus an inner image is the safer mode.
मराठी: तुकारामांचा हा सूक्ष्म इशारा आहे. संतसंगतीत फार जवळिकीने राहू नये — त्यामुळे काही गुण किंवा दोष अंगावर चिकटू शकतात. मग त्या दोषांचे निवारण होत नाही, आणि आपले पुण्यच लुबाडले जाते. तुकाराम म्हणतात — दुरूनच नमस्कार करावा, आणि त्यांचे रूप मनात साठवून ठेवावे. अगदी संतसंगतीही फार जवळून घेतली तर धोकादायक ठरू शकते; दुरून आदर राखणे आणि मनात त्यांची प्रतिमा जपणे हाच अधिक सुरक्षित मार्ग आहे, हीच या अभंगाची शिकवण आहे.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's nuanced sant-sanga warning
- Counter-balance to 3050, 3131, 2887