Abhanga 4550
Slander of good people, and even the company of those who spread it, corrodes a person's spirit, while serving genuine goodness brings a gain that never runs out.
The verse
जावें बाहेरी हा नाठवे विचार । नाहीं समाचार ठावा कांहीं ॥१॥
कांहीं न कळे तें कळों आलें देवा । मांडिला रिघावा कवतुक ॥२॥
कवतुकासाठीं क्त देहावरि । आणिताहे हरि बोलावया ॥३॥
यासि नांव रूप नाहीं हा आकार । कळला साचार भक्ता मुखें ॥४॥
मुखें भक्तांचिया बोलतो आपण । अंगसंगें भिन्न नाहीं दोघां ॥५॥
दोघे वेगळाले लेखिल जो कोणी । तयाचा मेदिनी बहु भार ॥६॥
तयासी घडलीं सकळ ही पापें । भक्तांचिया कोपें निंदा द्वेषें ॥७॥
द्वेषियाचा संग न घडावा कोणा । विष जेंवी प्राणां नाश करी ॥८॥
करितां आइके निंदा या संतांची । तया होती ते चि अधःपात ॥९॥
पतन उद्धार संगाचा महिमा । त्यजावें अधमा संत सेवीं ॥१०॥
संतसेवीं जोडे महालाभरासी । तुका म्हणे यासि नाश नाहीं ॥११॥
Literal translation
An 11-verse yamak-bandha — no-thought-of-going-outside / nothing-known-this-came-to-Deva / Lord-on-bhakta-deha-brings-Hari-to-speak / no-name-rūpa-known-saca-through-bhakta-mouth / anga-sangēm-no-difference / counting-them-separate = burden-of-earth + all-pāpa-committed / dvēṣī-sang-shouldn't-happen-like-viṣa-kills-prāṇa / nindā-of-sants-doing-listening = adhaḥpāta / patana-uddhāra-mahima-of-sanga / abandon-adhama-sevā-the-sants / sant-sevā = mahā-lābha-rāśi-no-nāśa — Tukā.
What it means
An 11-verse yamak-bandha — turn from Gokul-narrative to doctrinal-statement about bhakta-Lord-identity and sant-sevā. The doctrinal claims: (a) Lord-comes-into-bhakta-body to-speak-through-them, (b) the Lord-himself has no-name-rūpa-ākāra, (c) bhakta and Lord anga-sangēm-no-difference — whoever-counts-them-as-separate is-a-burden-on-the-earth, (d) dvēṣī-sang = viṣa kills-prāṇa, (e) nindā-of-sants-doing-or-listening = adhaḥpāta, (f) sant-sevā = mahā-lābha-rāśi-no-nāśa. This is foundational doctrine — bhakta-Lord-non-difference + sant-sevā-supremacy. Pair with 2887 (sant-pūjā), 4466 (sant-as-polluted = self-chāṇḍāḷa).
For someone today
Tukaram makes a striking claim here: the divine, who has no fixed name or form, speaks through the mouth of a true devotee, so closely joined that anyone who insists on treating them as two separate things only burdens themselves with sin. He warns that keeping company with people who slander or hate is like poison to the spirit, and that even listening to slander of good, saintly people drags a person down. Serving and honoring people of genuine goodness, by contrast, brings a gain that never runs out. Who you keep close and whose words you entertain shapes your inner life more than you realize, so choose that company carefully.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे एक ठाम विधान करतात, ज्याला निश्चित नाव किंवा रूप नाही असा देव खऱ्या भक्ताच्या मुखातून बोलतो, इतका एकरूप होऊन की त्या दोघांना वेगळे मानणारा माणूस स्वतःवरच पापाचे ओझे लादतो. ते इशारा देतात की निंदा किंवा द्वेष करणाऱ्यांची संगत विषासारखी आत्म्याला घातक असते, आणि साधुसंतांची निंदा फक्त ऐकणेसुद्धा माणसाला अधोगतीकडे नेते. याउलट, खऱ्या सज्जनांची सेवा आणि आदर केल्याने असा लाभ मिळतो जो कधीच संपत नाही. तुम्ही कोणाची संगत ठेवता आणि कोणाचे शब्द ऐकता हे तुमच्या अंतर्मनावर तुम्हाला वाटते त्यापेक्षा जास्त परिणाम करते, म्हणून ती संगत जपून निवडा.
Where this applies
- When you find yourself listening to gossip or slander about someone genuinely good
- When you notice how the company you keep quietly shapes your own character
- When you serve or support a truly good person and sense it changing you for the better
- When you are tempted to dismiss someone's inner goodness because of how they appear outwardly