संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 294 of 4582

Abhanga 294

This abhang names the learned-without-anubhava failure-mode:

When you encounter pundits-with-learned-words but no anubhava — and you have to recognize this register
When kathā-recitation without nija-sukha-cultivation — and you accept this critique
When witness-for-bribe-doesn't-know-the-vastu — and you receive this analogy

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

English: 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 tell debates of learned-words**"
अनुभव भेद नाहीं कोणा "no anubhava-bheda (experience-distinction) in anyone"
पंडित हे ज्ञानी करितील कथा "pundits, jñānis — will recite kathā"
न मळिती अर्था निजसुखा "don't maḷitī (refine / soil) the artha for nija-sukha**
जैसी लांचासाठीं ग्वाही "like gvāhī (witness) for lāñca (bribe)"
देतील हे नाहीं ठावी वस्तु "they will give — don't know the vastu**"

What it means

A learned-without-anubhava abhang. Three claims:

  1. शिकल्या बोलाचे सांगतील वाद — अनुभव भेद नाहीं कोणाthey 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.

  2. पंडित हे ज्ञानी करितील कथा — न मळिती अर्था निजसुखाpundits-jñānis recite kathā — don't maḷitī the 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.

  3. तुका म्हणे जैसी लांचासाठीं ग्वाही — देतील हे नाहीं ठावी वस्तुlike one giving witness for bribe — they don't know the vastu. The closing-analogy. Lāñca-gvāhībribed-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

This abhang names the learned-without-anubhava failure-mode:

  1. Learned-words ≠ experience-distinction. Śikalyā bolācē sāngatīla vāda — anubhava-bheda nāhīm koṇā. The capacity to debate learned-words is not the same as anubhava-bheda (experience-distinction). Many eloquent debaters have no anubhava-bheda. Don't be impressed by debate-skill alone; check for anubhava-bheda.

  2. Recitation ≠ artha-cultivation for nija-sukha. Pundits recite kathā (= say-the-text-correctly, perform-the-recitation) but don't refine the artha for nija-sukha. The recitation-skill is one thing; the artha-cultivation-for-self's-joy is another. The latter is the actual-purpose; the former is the form.

  3. Bribed-witness analogy: don't know the vastu*. Like the bribed-witness who gives testimony without knowing-the-event, the pundit-without-anubhava gives kathā without knowing-the-vastu. The kathā becomes false-testimony. (Important reading: this is not against learning per se; it is against learning-without-experience-and-without-cultivation-for-nija-sukha. The vastu (actual-thing) requires anubhava and cultivation*.)

For today: check whether your learning has anubhava-bheda; check whether your recitations are cultivating nija-sukha; don't be the bribed-witness. Vastu requires anubhava + cultivation; learned-words alone is bribed-testimony.

This abhang complements 0289 (anti-mere-talker) and 0254 (brahma-niṣṭha tests). All three name the ways learning-without-substance fails: 0289 — saliva-without-food; 0254 — jñāna-with-pride or with bhūta-matsara; 0294 — bribed-witness-without-anubhava. The complete-trap-pattern of learned-without-substance.

मराठी: ही ओवी learned-without-anubhava failure-mode नाव सांगते:

  1. Learned-words ≠ experience-distinction. शिकल्या बोलाचे सांगतील वाद — अनुभव भेद नाहीं कोणा. Learned-words debate करण्याची capacity anubhava-bheda शी same नाही. अनेक eloquent debaters ला anubhava-bheda नाही. Debate-skill alone मुळे impressed होऊ नका; anubhava-bheda check करा.

  2. Recitation ≠ nija-sukha साठी artha-cultivation. Pundits kathā recite करतात (= text-correctly म्हणतात, recitation-perform करतात) पण nija-sukha साठी artha refine करत नाहीत. Recitation-skill एक गोष्ट; nija-sukha-साठी-artha-cultivation दुसरी. नंतरचं actual-purpose; आधीचं form.

  3. Bribed-witness analogy: vastu माहीत नाही. Bribed-witness जो event माहीत नसताना testimony देतो सारखा, pundit-without-anubhava vastu माहीत नसताना kathā देतो. Kathā false-testimony होतं. (Learning per se विरुद्ध नाही; learning-without-experience-and-without-cultivation-for-nija-sukha विरुद्ध. Vastu (actual-thing) ला anubhava आणि cultivation लागते.)

आज: तुमच्या learning ला anubhava-bheda आहे का check करा; तुमच्या recitations nija-sukha cultivate करत आहेत का check करा; bribed-witness होऊ नका. Vastu ला anubhava + cultivation लागते; learned-words alone bribed-testimony.

Where this applies

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