79Bth post Three Hymns१).जे कां रंजले गांजले २)पुण्यपापा ठाव नाहीं सुखदु:खा ३)संतांचा महिमा तो बहु दुर्गम
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Three Hymns describing the indicators to identity a true Saint.

The verbatim meaning is given after the original Hymns written in Devanagari script.

Hymn 1 :-

जे कां रंजले गांजले । त्यांसी म्हणें जो आपुले ॥

तोची साधू ऒळखावां । देव तेथेंची जाणांवा ॥

मृदू सबाह्य नवनीत । तैसें सज्जनाचे चित्त ॥

ज्यासि आपंगिता नाही । त्यासि धरी जो हृदयी ॥

दया करणें जे पुत्रासी । तेचि दासा आणि दासी ॥

तुका म्हणें सांगू किती । तोचि भगवंताची मूर्ती ॥1॥

Hymn 2 :-

पुण्यपापा ठाव नाहीं सुखदु:खा । हानि लाभ शंका नासलिया ॥

जितां मरण आलें आपपर गेलें । मूळ छेदिलें संसाराचें ।

अधिकार जात वर्णधर्म जात । ठाव नाही सत्य असत्याशीं ।

जन वन भिन्न अचेत चळण । नांही दुजेपण ठावे यांसी ।

तुका म्हणें देह वाहिला विठ्ठलीं । तेंव्हाच घडली सर्व पूजा ॥ २ ॥

अभंग ३ रा :-

संतांचा महिमा तो बहु दुर्गम । शाब्दिकांचे काम नाही तेथें।

बहु दुधड जरी झाली म्हैस गाय । तरि होईल काय कामधेनू ।

तुका म्हणें अंगें व्हावें तें आपण । तरीच महिमान येईंल कळॊं ॥ ३ ॥

Verbatim Meaning :

Hymn 1 :-

The true saint always feels that whosoever is suffering is his own near and dear one.|| We can say the such person is the real Saint and the God is present in his form || He embresses the ones who have nobody in this world || He treats everybody like his children || Tuka says that How can I describe him. He is the real God in Human form || 1||

Hymn 2 :-

For such a saintly person, every action and it's results whether good or Bad ,are same.|| There is no feeling of Happiness due to some gains or unhappiness due to some losses. || He has transcended the cycle of Birth-death.|| There is no difference that this person is my friend and this person is not mine .(Only feeling he has is that everybody is my near and dear one.) || He does not have discrimination like Religion , Cast, etc. He is not affected by the illusions of Truth or falsehood.|| He lives without any attachment and thus he is happy when he is in a jungle or when he is amongst the people || Tuka says that all his worships are completed since he has surrendered himself at the holy feet of the Lord Vitthala||.

Hymn 3 :-

It is very difficult the greatness and qualities of a saint using words.||

Even a cow or Buffalo gives lot of milk, it can never be compared with the Cow Kamadhenu who can give everything whatever may be the desire.|| Tuka says that to describe a saint one must become a saint himself. ||3||.

Meaning of these Hymns.:-

Preface :-

There are many Hymns written by Saint Tukarama Majaraj, describing the qualities of a saint. Out of these many only three have been slected here. In Sri.Bhagavadgeeta Chapter 12 , one can come across this kind of description. Also in the book of Dasabodha , in the chapter of “Santstavan these is a complete chapter describing qualities of Saints .

These Hymns by Sant Tukarama we have here the description of a saintly person.

Meaning of Hymn 1 :-

The true Saint is the one who has real concern for the people who are suffering in this world. Tukarama Maharaj has used a simile of Butter to describe the feelings of such a saintly person. The butter is soft inside and outside ; and the heart of a saint is like this. Therefore he is the savior of those who have nobody to call as his own. The saint protects such suffering people.

Generally everybody will be concerned about the welfare his own close family members only. Some may be concerned about the welfare of the clan but hardly any one crosses these boundaries except a saint. The love of saints has no limitations, boundaries and discrimination like cast, country, servants , master etc. He is always ready and prepared to help any needy person. This is the special quality of a saint. He is an ocean of compassion and tenderness.

One may think that such a person is only a play of imagination, but it is not so. If we read the biography of saints like Saint Ekasnath, Mother Theressa , then we can see such attitude in their life. For example Saint Ekanath had performed pilgrimage to Varanasi in the nothern India.And he had brought the water of Ganges for offering it at the see of Rameshvaram in south India.This religious practice is still being followed in India today as well.

Saint Ekantath saw a thirsty donkey on the banks of river Godavari. He was so compassionate that he gave the water carried by him from Varanasi tpo the donkey and ended his pilgrimage.

We are already femilier with the work done by Mother Theressa in India. Latest example is that of Amte family who is carrying the work for poor natives in a remote place of Hemalkasa. There can be many such examples given.

Ithus the real saints can not see the sufferings of the people and remain silent -inactive. They are full of compassion and spend the whole lifetime for the welfare of suffering mass.

Tukarama Maharaj says at the end of the Hymn that such a person is the God himself in the form of a human being.

Meaning of the 2^nd Hymn :-

The question that arises in the mind is How this saintly quality comes to someone? It is clear that this is not an inherent quality. Also a question can be asked as to what are other signs to identify a saint? Tukarama Maharaj has given answer to these questions by giving his own example.

He was a liberated person. Thus when a man attains liberation then all the qualities of a saint automatically manifest in him. The people call such a person as a saint.

The saint is always living in the state of Being. However they come down from the state of Being in order to carryout the work in this world after attaining the liberation state.

They see that there is no difference between them and the people, creatures infact the whole world. They transcend the common attitudes of differentiation based on Birth, cast, country etc. They do not have any wants and therefore are free from the desires such as “this thing should happen this way etc.”They are beyond the feeling of Fear of anything since they have won the death. They see themselves in every being and everywhere.

This experience enables them to live amongst people or they are equally at ease in a lonely place like a jungle.

The main reason is they have no consciousness of I ( Ego) and therefore body is just an instrument for them, nothing .They do not have any fear of death because they have conquered the death itself.

Tukaram Maharaj calls this way of living in the world as “living in the world like a dead corpse”.

This state of living comes naturally when one attains Liberation in the very birth. Such person lives in the world without getting entangled with it's attractions.

Another saint Jog Maharaj has given the simile of the wheel used by the potters. The potters put a lump of earth to produce a pot. After the pot is produced the wheel keeps on rotating; similarly after attaining liberation, the saint lives in the body to perform the destined works it is meant to do. He is not affected by the results of his work and is therefore free from the rounds of further births -deaths.

Tukarama maharaj says that he attained this state ( liberation ) because he surrendered himself /everything offered at the holy feet of Lord Viththala

( Panduranga). He says that he worshiped the Lord and transcended the duality. He further says that thus I experienced that all the live as well as things that are not alive are same as me, they are no more different from me.

This state of liberation is the permanent one and everybody strives for this state of liberation. In Sanskrit language this liberation is called as “Sayojyamukti”

Meaning of the 3^rd Hymn:-

It is said that one can not describe the state of liberated persons since the words are inadequate for this task. We know that a simple experience of sweetness of Sugar even can not be described by mere words. Only the experience helps here.

However Tukaram Maharaj has given one example in the Hymn. He says that a cow or Buffalo may give lot of milk but therefore can not be compared with the celestial cow Kamadhenu , who can satisfy all one's desires.

We know that any example has some limitations. Tukaram Maharaj is aware of this fact and therefore he concludes the Hymn with the statement that “To know a Saint, one must become a saint. Then only one can really understand a saint and his qualities.

Thus he indirectly is telling us to become Liberated. He has written many more Hymns which describe their work in this world. We will be seeing a few in our next post.

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