Abhanga 4066
Simply walking the pilgrim path in the company of sants who sing the Name brings a joy and closeness to the divine that outweighs any measurable gain.
The verse
जातां पंढरीच्या मार्गा । काय वणूप सुखा मग ॥१॥
घडे लाभ लक्षकोटि । परब्रम्हीं होइल भेटी ॥ध्रु.॥
नाम गर्जत येती संत । त्यांच्या दर्शनें होईजे मुक्त ॥२॥
जो अलक्ष्य ब्रम्हादिकां । आला संनिध म्हणे तुका ॥३॥
Literal translation
Going-Paṇḍharī-mārga — what-sukha. Lābha-lakṣa-koṭi — para-brahma-bhēṭi. Name-roaring-santas — darśana-mukta. Tukā: alakṣya-to-brahmādikas — samnidha.
What it means
A 3-verse Paṇḍharī-mārga-sukha text. Going on Paṇḍharī's path — what joy can I describe? Hundred-thousand-ten-million worth of gain takes place; one will meet para-brahma. The santas come roaring the Name; by their darśana one becomes mukta. The one un-trackable even to brahmādikas has come close, says Tukā. The progression: (a) the path itself is sukha-laden; (b) parabrahma-meeting takes place; (c) santas come along; (d) the un-trackable becomes close.
For someone today
Tukaram says that simply walking the road toward Pandharpur brings a joy he can barely find words to describe. That journey alone is worth more than anything measurable, because at the end of it lies a meeting with the highest reality itself. Along the way, sants travel together loudly singing the Name, and just being in their presence and seeing them is enough to set a person free. What's remarkable, he says, is that the very one who stays hidden and untraceable even to the greatest cosmic beings becomes close and reachable through this simple walk with good company.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की पंढरपूरच्या वाटेने चालणे हेच इतका आनंद देते की तो शब्दांत सांगणे कठीण आहे. ती वाटचाल एकटीच कोणत्याही मोजता येण्याजोग्या गोष्टीपेक्षा जास्त मोलाची आहे, कारण तिच्या शेवटी परब्रह्माशी भेट होते. वाटेत संत मोठमोठ्याने नाम गात एकत्र चालतात, आणि केवळ त्यांच्या सहवासात असणे आणि त्यांचे दर्शन घेणेच माणसाला मुक्त करण्यास पुरेसे आहे. यातली खरी गोष्ट अशी आहे, ते म्हणतात, की जो सर्वात मोठ्या ब्रह्मादिकांनाही सापडत नाही, तोच या साध्या वाटचालीत चांगल्या सोबतीने अगदी जवळ आणि सहज उपलब्ध होतो.
Where this applies
- When you underestimate how much a simple journey or pilgrimage can offer you emotionally and spiritually
- When you're walking alongside good, devoted company and sense how much that presence itself is giving you
- When you assume the divine is too distant or abstract to actually meet in ordinary life
- When you're looking for a doable, concrete practice rather than something abstract or hard to reach