Abhanga 4250
Being near a truly good person works faster and clears away sorrow and fear more surely than years of pilgrimage or austere practice.
The verse
तीर्थे फळती काळें जन्में आगळिया । संतदृष्टी पाया हेळामात्रें ॥१॥
सुखाचे सुगम वैष्णवांचे पाय । अंतरींचा जाय महाभेव ॥ध्रु.॥
काळें हि न सरे तपें समाधान । कथे मूढजन समाधिस्थ ॥२॥
उपमा द्यावया सांगतां आणीक । नाहीं तिन्ही लोक धुंडाळितां ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे मी राहिलों येणें सुखें । संतसंगें दुःखें नासावया ॥४॥
Literal translation
Tīrthas-fruit-with-kāḷa-many-births — sant-drṣṭi-by-hēḷā-mātra. Vaiṣṇavas-feet-sugama-of-sukha — antar-mahābhēva-goes. Kāḷa-not-enough-for-tapa — kathā-makes-mūḍha-samādhi-stha. No-upamā-in-3-lōkas. Tukā: stayed-with-sukha — sant-sanga-destroys-duḥkha.
What it means
THE canonical 4-verse sant-foot-superior-to-tīrtha text. Tīrthas fruit only by time, by many-births' extra-labor; the sant's foot-glance (fruits) in a trice. The easy-path of joy is at the Vaiṣṇavas' feet; the great-fear inside goes away. Even by time, tapas-contentment isn't attained; (but) kathā makes the foolish-people established in samādhi. To give a comparison — even searching the three worlds, there is no other. Tukā says: I have stayed with this joy — sant-sanga destroys sorrow. The radical claim: (1) tīrthas need extra-life-times; sant-foot-glance is instant; (2) tapa-samādhāna is unreachable even with full time; kathā gives mūḍha-jana samādhi-state; (3) no comparison exists in 3 worlds. Pair with 2887 (sant-pūjā warrant), 4130 (puṇya-fruited-santas-met).
For someone today
Tukaram makes a bold comparison: pilgrimage to sacred rivers and shrines only pays off after many lifetimes of effort, but a single glance at the feet of a true sant works in an instant. Simply being near devoted people is the easy road to real joy, and it dissolves the deep fear sitting inside you. Even years of austere practice may not bring the peace you're after, yet listening to the stories of the saints can settle an ordinary, confused person into that same steady peace. Tukaram says there is nothing in the three worlds to compare with this, and that he has chosen to stay in that joy, because keeping company with good people is what actually clears away sorrow.
मराठी: तुकाराम एक धाडसी तुलना करतात, तीर्थयात्रा अनेक जन्मांच्या मेहनतीनंतर फळाला येते, पण खऱ्या संताच्या पायाकडे एक क्षणभर पाहिलं तरी तेवढ्यातच फळ मिळतं. भल्या माणसांच्या सहवासात राहणं हाच खऱ्या सुखाचा सोपा मार्ग आहे, आणि त्यामुळे मनातली खोल भीती नाहीशी होते. वर्षानुवर्षांच्या कठोर तपानेही जी शांती मिळत नाही, ती शांती संतकथा ऐकल्याने एखाद्या साध्या, गोंधळलेल्या माणसालाही मिळते. तुकाराम म्हणतात, तिन्ही लोकांत याच्याशी तुलना करण्यासारखं काहीच नाही, आणि म्हणूनच त्यांनी या सुखातच राहणं पत्करलं आहे, कारण चांगल्या माणसांचा सहवासच खरं दुःख नाहीसं करतो.
Where this applies
- When you feel like you have to travel far or work for years before you can feel any peace
- When you are carrying a deep, nagging fear that meditation alone hasn't touched
- When you have tried strict discipline but still cannot find real contentment
- When you are near someone genuinely good and notice how much lighter you feel just from their company