Abhanga 294
Clever words about truth are worthless without your own lived experience of it, otherwise you are just a bribed witness testifying to something you never saw.
The verse
शिकल्या बोलाचे सांगतील वाद । अनुभव भेद नाहीं कोणा ॥१॥ पंडित हे ज्ञानी करितील कथा । न मळिती अर्था निजसुखा ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे जैसी लांचासाठीं ग्वाही । देतील हे नाहीं ठावी वस्तु ॥३॥
Literal translation
They will tell debates of learned-words — no anubhava-bheda in anyone. Pundits, jñānis will recite kathā — don't maḷitī the artha for nija-sukha. Tuka says: like (one giving) gvāhī for lāñca — they don't know the vastu.
मराठी: शिकल्या बोलाचे सांगतील वाद — अनुभव भेद नाहीं कोणा. पंडित हे ज्ञानी करितील कथा — न मळिती अर्था निजसुखा. तुकाराम म्हणतात — जैसी लांचासाठीं ग्वाही — देतील हे नाहीं ठावी वस्तु.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| शिकल्या बोलाचे सांगतील वाद | "will telldebates of learned-words" |
| अनुभव भेद नाहीं कोणा | "noanubhava-bheda(experience-distinction) in anyone" |
| पंडित हे ज्ञानी करितील कथा | "pundits, jñānis — will recite kathā" |
| न मळिती अर्था निजसुखा | "don'tmaḷitī(refine / soil) thearthafornija-sukha |
| जैसी लांचासाठीं ग्वाही | "likegvāhī(witness) forlāñca(bribe)" |
| देतील हे नाहीं ठावी वस्तु | "they will give — don't know thevastu" |
What it means
A learned-without-anubhava abhang. Three claims:
-
शिकल्या बोलाचे सांगतील वाद — अनुभव भेद नाहीं कोणा — they tell debates of learned-words — no anubhava-bheda. The pundits-and-debaters engage with learned-words but have no experience-distinction (= they cannot distinguish what is and isn't anubhava). They talk-about without knowing-by-experience.
-
पंडित हे ज्ञानी करितील कथा — न मळिती अर्था निजसुखा — pundits-jñānis recite kathā — don'tmaḷitīthe artha for nija-sukha. Maḷaṇē in Marathi means to grind / polish / refine (and also to soil / dirty). Reading: the pundits recite kathā but don't grind / cultivate the artha (meaning) for nija-sukha (own-self's joy). The artha is unprocessed-by-them; the nija-sukha is uncultivated.
-
तुका म्हणे जैसी लांचासाठीं ग्वाही — देतील हे नाहीं ठावी वस्तु — like one giving witness for bribe — they don't know the vastu. The closing-analogy. Lāñca-gvāhī — bribed-witness. The bribed-witness gives testimony for-pay without knowing-the-actual-event. Similarly, the pundit-without-anubhava gives kathā-testimony without knowing-the-vastu (the actual-thing). The kathā becomes false-witness.
[T]
For someone today
Being able to argue skillfully using learned words is not the same as having real experience — many eloquent debaters have never actually tasted what they talk about. Pundits and scholars may recite scripture beautifully, yet never work the meaning into their own hearts or let it bring them real inner joy; reciting the text correctly is not the same as living it. Tukaram compares such people to a bribed witness who testifies about an event they never actually saw — their words sound convincing, but they don't truly know the thing they claim to speak of. Real understanding needs your own lived experience and the inner work of making meaning your own, not just clever words.
मराठी: शिकलेल्या शब्दांत हुशारीने वाद घालता येणं म्हणजे प्रत्यक्ष अनुभव असणं नव्हे — अनेक वाक्पटू वादविवादपटूंनी जे सांगतात ते त्यांनी कधी स्वतः चाखलेलंच नसतं. पंडित आणि विद्वान शास्त्र सुरेख म्हणून दाखवतील, पण त्याचा अर्थ स्वतःच्या हृदयात मुरवून त्यातून खरा आनंद कधीच मिळवत नाहीत — नुसतं बरोबर पठण करणं म्हणजे ते जगणं नव्हे. तुकाराम अशा लोकांची तुलना लाच घेऊन साक्ष देणाऱ्या माणसाशी करतात, जो स्वतः न पाहिलेल्या घटनेबद्दल साक्ष देतो — त्याचे शब्द खात्रीलायक वाटतात, पण ज्याबद्दल तो बोलतो ती गोष्ट त्याला खरंच माहीत नसते. खरं आकलन होण्यासाठी स्वतःचा अनुभव आणि अर्थ स्वतःत मुरवण्याची मेहनत लागते, नुसते हुशार शब्द पुरेसे नाहीत.
Where this applies
- Learned-words ≠ anubhava-bheda. Different capacities.
- Recitation ≠ artha-cultivation for nija-sukha. Form ≠ substance.
- Bribed-witness-doesn't-know-the-vastu. Don't be this.