Abhanga 1320
Knowing something secondhand, hearing about it, and truly living it are three very different depths, and even the finest truth looks worthless to someone unable to judge it.
The verse
देखण्याच्या तीन जाती । वेठी वार्ता अत्यंतीं ॥१॥ जैसा भाव तैसें फळ । स्वातीतोय एक जळ ॥ध्रु.॥ पाहे सांगे आणि जेवी । अंतर महदांतर तेवी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे हिरा । पारखियां मूढां गारा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Of dēkhaṇa, three jātis: vēṭhī, vārtā, atyantī. As the bhāva, so the phaḷa — Svāti-tōya is one water. (One) sees, (one) tells, (one) eats — antara, mahad-antara accordingly. Tuka says: diamond — to the mūḍha-pārakhī — (becomes) hailstone.
मराठी: देखण्याच्या तीन जाति — (1) वेठी (फुकट-काम) (2) वार्ता (ऐकीव) (3) अत्यन्ती (साक्षात / सर्वोच्च). जैसा भाव — तैसें फळ — स्वाती-तोय (स्वाती नक्षत्रांतलें पाणी) — एकच जळ. पाहणारा, सांगणारा, आणि जेवणारा — अंतर — महद-अंतर — तसें तसें. Tukā म्हणे — हिरा — पारखी-मूढाला — गारा-च (दिसतो).
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| देखण्याच्या तीन जाती | "of dēkhaṇa (experiencing) — three jātis (kinds)" |
| वेठी वार्ता अत्यंतीं | "(1) vēṭhī (forced labor) — (2) vārtā (report / hearsay) — (3) atyantī (extreme / direct)" |
| जैसा भाव तैसें फळ | "as the bhāva — so the phaḷa" |
| स्वातीतोय एक जळ | "Svāti-tōya — one water" |
| पाहे सांगे आणि जेवी | "(one) sees — (one) tells — and (one) jēvī (eats / experiences)" |
| अंतर महदांतर तेवी | "antara (gap) — mahad-antara (great-gap) — accordingly (tēvī)" |
| हिरा पारखियां मूढां गारा | "diamond (hīrā) — to the pārakhī-mūḍha (foreign / outsider examiner) — gārā (hailstone)" |
What it means
Three-grades-of-experiencing abhang. Tuka classifies dēkhaṇa (= seeing / experiencing / knowing) into three jāti:
- Vēṭhī — forced labor — the lowest grade — knowing-because-compelled (rote, by-discipline)
- Vārtā — report / hearsay — middle grade — knowing-from-someone-else's-account
- Atyantī — extreme / utmost / direct — the highest grade — knowing-by-direct-anubhava
The Svāti-tōya image (mid-verse) is classical: Svāti-tōya is the rain that falls during the Svāti nakṣatra (a specific lunar mansion). The same drop of Svāti-tōya, falling into different vessels, yields different things: - Into an oyster — pearl (mōtī) - Into a snake's mouth — viṣa (poison) - Into a banana-tree's heart — karpūra (camphor) (in some versions; or just a drop)
Jaisā bhāva taisē phaḷa — as the bhāva, so the fruit. The teaching is the same drop; what comes of it depends on the vessel of the receiver.
The closing parallel: pāhē, sāngē, jēvī — sees, tells, eats. Antara, mahad-antara — gap, great-gap. Seeing is one level; telling is another; eating-experiencing is the third — and the gap between them is mahad-antara (vast).
The most-quoted line: hīrā — pārakhiyām mūḍhām gārā — the diamond, to the mūḍha-pārakhī (the unskilled examiner / foreigner-judge), is a hailstone (= a worthless ice-pellet). The same vastu (object) is pricelessly precious or worthless depending on the pārakhī (judge / examiner).
[T]
For someone today
For today: grade your knowing — vēṭhī, vārtā, atyantī — and notice the mahad-antara between seeing, telling, and tasting; the same diamond looks like a hailstone to the unskilled judge.
Where this applies
- When you have lived through something deeply and someone who only read about it argues with you as an equal
- When you share a hard-won insight with a friend and they nod politely but clearly do not grasp its weight
- When you offer someone genuinely valuable advice or help and they dismiss it because they cannot recognize its worth
- When you catch yourself mistaking secondhand knowledge for real understanding of something you have never actually experienced