Abhanga 3555
Talking about wisdom without living it is empty performance, and doing it for praise rather than truth reveals that honor, not real understanding, is what such a person actually values.
The verse
ब्रम्हज्ञानाची भरोवरी । पुढिला सांगे आपण न करी ॥१॥
थू थू त्याच्या तोंडावरी । व्यर्थ सिणवी वैखरी ॥ध्रु.॥
कथा करी वरिवरी । प्रेम नसे चि अंतरीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे कवित्व करी । मान वस्तु हे आदरी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Brahma-jñānāñcī bharōvarī — of brahma-jñāna's bharōvarī (excess); puḍhilā sānge āpaṇa na karī — tells others, doesn't do himself. Thū thū tyāñcyā tōṇḍāvarī — thū thū on his face; vyartha siṇavī vaikharī — tires vaikharī in vain. Kathā karī varivarī — does kathā on the surface; prema nase chi antarīm — prema is not in antara. Tukā mhaṇe kavitva karī — Tukā says: does kavitva; māna vastu he ādarī — takes māna-vastu as the (chief) (thing-he-)honors.
What it means
A 3-verse anti-fake-Brahma-jñānī polemic. The-one-who-overflows-with-brahma-jñāna talks-(it)-but-doesn't-live-it — spit-on-his-face. His-kathā is superficial; no-prema-in-the-heart. He-writes-kavitva-only-for-public-honor.
For someone today
Tukārām has sharp words here for the person who preaches deep spiritual wisdom to everyone else but never lives it himself — such empty talk, he says, deserves to be spat on. Their discourse stays on the surface, with no real love in the heart behind it, and their eloquence is really just a performance aimed at winning praise and honor rather than expressing genuine devotion. The real failure isn't ignorance, Tukārām suggests, but caring more about being admired as wise than about actually becoming so.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे कठोरपणे टीका करतात त्या माणसावर जो ब्रह्मज्ञानाच्या गप्पा इतरांना मारतो, पण स्वतः ते आचरणात आणत नाही — अशा पोकळ बोलण्याला थुंकण्याच्याच लायकीचे म्हणतात. त्याची कथा वरवरची असते, अंतरंगात खरे प्रेम नसते; त्याची वाणी केवळ मान-सन्मान मिळवण्यासाठीची कसरत असते, खऱ्या भक्तीची अभिव्यक्ती नव्हे. तुकाराम म्हणतात, खरी उणीव अज्ञानाची नसून शहाणा दिसण्याच्या हव्यासाची असते, खरोखर शहाणे होण्याची नाही.
Where this applies
- When someone gives spiritual or moral advice but never applies it to their own life
- When you notice a speaker or teacher performing wisdom mainly to be praised, not to help anyone
- When a person's public discourse sounds impressive but feels hollow, with no real feeling behind it
- When you catch yourself valuing being seen as wise more than actually becoming wise