Taatiche Abhang: Abhang 5

 


 Taatiche Abhang: Abhang 5

 – संत तेचि जाणा जगीं


संत तेचि जाणा जगीं 

दया क्षमा ज्यांचे अंगी ॥१॥

लोभ अहंता  ये मना 

जगी विरक्त तोची जाणा ॥२॥

इह परलोकीं सुखी 

शुद्ध ज्ञान ज्यांचे मुखीं ॥३॥

मिथ्या कल्पना मागें सारा 

ताटी उघडा ज्ञानेश्वरा ॥४॥


Recognize saints as those who have the virtues of mercy and forgiveness in them.

Those who don’t entertain greed or egoism in their thoughts

Only those can be considered as being truly detached from worldliness. 

They avail of bliss in this world and in the afterlife 

Those whose speech reflects pure knowledge.

Leave behind all false ideas and vain hopes 

And open the door oh Dnyaaneshwara!


संत saints

तेचि those

जाणा know

जगीं in the world 

दया mercy

क्षमा forgiveness 

ज्यांचे whose

अंगी within

लोभ greed

 अहंता ego

 ये doesn’t enter

मना ( in the)mind 

जगी in the world 

विरक्त renunciate 

तोची that one, him alone

जाणा know

इह here

परलोकीं other world

सुखी happy

शुद्ध pure 

ज्ञान knowledge 

ज्यांचे whose

मुखीं ( in the) mouth/ speech

मिथ्या false

कल्पना ideas, imagination 

मागें behind

सारा push

ताटी उघडा ज्ञानेश्वरा open the door O Dnyaaneshwara 


संत तेचि जाणा जगीं 

दया क्षमा ज्यांचे अंगी ॥१॥


Recognizing essential characteristics and false signs of a saint are both equally important. In the last abhang Muktabai exposed the conmen who disguise in the garb of holy men and deceive naive people with fake spiritual knowledge for selfish gains. 

Now she turns to describing the qualities which are hallmarks of true saints. 


First quality she mentions here is mercy. What does it mean to show mercy? When it is in your power to punish or ease the suffering of another , to be naturally inclined to exercise kindness, that too unconditionally, is to show mercy. 

It is the quality of sattva guna, the superior of the three gunas, to have a sensitivity to the feelings of others. The suffering of others makes a good person restless. Until they have exhausted everything in their capacity to improve the situation for the other person they will not rest. 


Tukaram Maharaj has described the quality of mercy and compassion most vividly in his abhang thus:

जे का रंजले गांजले

त्यासि म्हणे जो आपुलें

तो चि साधु ओळखावा

देव तेथें चि जाणावा

One who embraces as his own those who are burdened by suffering, know him to be a saint and feel the presence of God in him.


मृदु सबाह्य नवनीत

तैसे सज्जनांचे चित्त

ज्यासि अपंगिता नाही

त्यासि धरी जो हृदयी

The heart of a saintly person is soft like butter within and without. He extends love to those who are forsaken by the world. 


दया करणें जें पुत्रासी

ते चि दास आणि दासी

तुका म्हणे सांगो किती

त्याची भगवंताची मूर्ती

He makes no distinction between his servants and his offspring when showing mercy. What more can I say, says Tukaram Maharaj, such men are incarnations of the Good Lord Himself. 


Forgiveness often goes hand in hand with mercy. In the case of forgiveness the other person has done some wrong to you that would ordinarily create lasting anger, bitterness and/or grudge in the mind. However a saintly person’s disposition does not let those feelings to settle within himself. 


This ability to confer benevolence upon all beings irrespective of their relationship with you or their behavior towards you is what sets the saints apart from others.


लोभ अहंता  ये मना 

जगी विरक्त तोची जाणा ॥२॥


True dispassion is frequently misunderstood. A large part of the Bhagwad Gita is dedicated to the clarification of the concept of dispassion or renunciation. Abandoning one’s home, family, job and social responsibilities is not what defines dispassion or renunciation. Physically giving up certain objects or forcibly denying pleasures from any objects is not what dispassion is about. In such situations the mind remains secretly engaged in thoughts of pleasures hence that is not dispassion in the true sense. Not to forget the fact that abandoning responsibilities causes great suffering on many, damages the credibility and brings disgrace to the person himself.


विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः । 
रस-वर्जं रसोऽप्य् अस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते ॥

viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ |
rasa-varjaṃ raso'py asya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate ||

Bhagwad Gita chapter 2 verse 59


Dispassion is an intelligent evolutionary process where the limited value of material things and experiences related to such objects is deeply understood and thereafter reflected in attitude and behavior. The consequence of this realization is that the tendency to acquire and hoard anything beyond real necessity is weakened and needs are reduced. Even one’s physical body counts amongst material objects. Hence the obsession to gratify through it or for it diminishes. This results in weakening of egoism. But practicality is never blinded. What it means is that whatever is necessary for sustaining day to day operations is allowed to remain while the person using them is fully aware that these things serve only a limited purpose and therefore he is not attached to them. Heroic efforts to secure belongings are not considered necessary. He knows they are all perishable at some point and when it happens he is neither surprised nor disproportionately aggrieved. The same understanding is extended to non material things such as praise,criticism,honor, insults, pain, joy, etc which are recognized as temporary and therefore not taken for granted or seriously at any time. The person remains unperturbed with changing fortunes with any of these matters.


The fine print here is that the intellect that has recognized the temporary nature of material things and other changing circumstances has also tasted the experience of higher consciousness with its inherent bliss and permanence and hence everything else no longer remains alluring in comparison. (This is echoed by the second half of the verse 59 from chapter two of the Bhagwad Gita cited above.)


इह परलोकीं सुखी 

शुद्ध ज्ञान ज्यांचे मुखीं ॥३॥


Having found refuge in the highest consciousness such person of spiritual excellence thus avails of bliss even when embodied in the mortal world. His experience carries forward into the next realm even after the physical body is discarded at time of physical death. 


The poet Sahir Ludhianvi has penned similar philosophy in his composition:

संसार से भागे फिरते हो

भगवान को तुम क्या पाओगे

इस लोग को भी अपना ना सके

उस लोक में भी पछताओगे

You are fleeing away from the world 

What reward do you expect when you face the Creator?

You abandoned the people in this world 

How can you expect to find meaning and worth in another life?


A person who has risen above material pleasures and sensory gratification remains vigilantly situated in the pure awareness state where there is no interruption of bliss. His speech reflects his experience.

The deepest identity of a person inclusive of  tendencies is said to be carried over into the next life according to the Hindu scriptures. By this logic a person who is experiencing bliss of pure awareness in this life will smoothly transition to the same state of existence even after leaving behind the mortal body. 


श्रद्धावान् लभते ज्ञानं तत्पर: संयतेन्द्रिय: |
ज्ञानं लब्ध्वा परां शान्तिमचिरेणाधिगच्छति || 

śhraddhāvānllabhate jñānaṁ tat-paraḥ sanyatendriyaḥ
jñānaṁ labdhvā parāṁ śhāntim achireṇādhigachchhati

Bhagwad Gita chapter 4 verse 39


In the 3 couplets addressed thus far in this abhang, all qualities discussed are inherent to the pure awareness. Mercy, forgiveness, dispassion recognized as lack of desire and greed, lack of ego, and speech that reveals truth alone.


मिथ्या कल्पना मागें सारा 

ताटी उघडा ज्ञानेश्वरा ॥४॥


After the discussion above it can be safely inferred that anything below the level of pure consciousness is in a state of flux hence it is to be considered as illusory. All mental constructs including good and bad ideas, pleasing and unpleasant emotions and momentary experiences are no more than figments of imagination superimposed on the substratum of pure consciousness. If one must perpetually remain in the state of pure awareness or stage zero then identification with the mind and its ideas must be abandoned. In other words one must separate oneself a bit (मागें सारा )and see all experiences(मिथ्याकल्पना) as external at all times. 

Push them aside and open the door to the eternal reality O wise one is Muktabai’s call. 


Qualities:

Kindness Compassion 

Forgiveness 

Humility 

Lack of greed

Dispassion 

True knowledge of self

Blissful 

Recognizing and separating from virtual realities 


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