Abhanga 3118
Tukaram insists that only lived experience counts here, not recited stories, comparing true discernment to a swan separating milk from water.
The verse
नका दंतकथा येथें सांगों कोणी । कोरडे ते मानी बोल कोण ॥१॥
अनुभव येथें व्हावा शिष्टाचार । न चलती चार आम्हांपुढें ॥ध्रु.॥
निवडी वेगळें क्षीर आणि पाणी । राजहंस दोन्ही वेगळालीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे येथें पाहिजे जातीचें । येरा गाबाळाचें काय काम ॥३॥
Literal translation
Nakā damta-kathā yethe sāngōm kōṇī — don't anyone tell dantakathā here; kōraḍe te mānī bōla kōṇa — who counts dry words. Anubhava yethe hvāvā śiṣṭāchāra — anubhava must (be shown) here, (the) śiṣṭāchāra; na chalatī chāra āmhāmpuḍhe — chāra does not pass before us. Nivaḍī vegaḷe kṣīra āṇi pāṇī — (the rāja-hamsa) separates kṣīra and pāṇī; rāja-hamsa dōnhī vegaḷālīm — the rāja-hamsa makes both (vessels) distinct. Tukā mhaṇe yethe pāhije jātīñce — Tukā says: here jāti is needed; yerā gabāḷāñce kāya kāma — others' gabāḷā — what use.
What it means
A canonical 3-verse anubhava-over-recitation text by Tukārām.
The claim: No-dantakathā (folk-story) here; dry-words-don't-count; anubhava-must-prove-itself. The image: rāja-hamsa separates milk-from-water — Tukārām-or-the-sant-community has-the-discernment to-recognize-real-from-fake. The closing-line: here-jāti (kind, true-breed) is-needed; others' gabāḷā (chatter) is-useless.
The rāja-hamsa kṣīra-nīra viveka (royal-swan separates-milk-from-water) is canonical-Indic-image for discriminating-wisdom. Tukārām applies-it-to bhakti-discernment.
Compare-Tukārām's 2949 (maithuna-analogy: anubhava-vs-śābdika), 3064 (anti-rote-learning; horse-carrying-load).
For someone today
Tukārām insists that lived experience is what matters here, not empty stories or dry recitation — no one should mistake mere words for the real thing. Just as the royal swan can separate milk from water, true discernment can tell genuine spiritual experience apart from idle chatter. What is needed, he says, is the real grain of anubhava, the true breed — the empty talk of pretenders is of no use at all.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की इथे फक्त प्रत्यक्ष अनुभवाला महत्त्व आहे, कोरड्या गोष्टी किंवा पाठांतराला नाही — नुसत्या शब्दांना कोणी खरे मानू नये. जसा राजहंस दूध आणि पाणी वेगळे करू शकतो, तसाच खरा विवेक खोट्या बडबडीतून खरा अनुभव ओळखू शकतो. इथे खरी जात, खरा अस्सलपणा हवा; इतरांच्या पोकळ गप्पांचा काय उपयोग, असे तुकाराम शेवटी म्हणतात.
Where this applies
- Canonical anubhava-vs-pāṭha text
- Rāja-hamsa kṣīra-nīra viveka canonical-image
- Companion to 2949, 3064