Abhanga 3708
Naming or talking about a spiritual experience is not the same as truly having it, and empty words cannot settle a restlessness that only real presence can quiet.
The verse
जेविल्याचा कैसा अनुभव अंतरीं । म्हणतां मांडे पुरी काय होतें ॥१॥
नाहींनाहीं गेली तळमळ दातारा । कां जी हरिहरा चाळविलें ॥ध्रु.॥
अंतरीं सबाह्यी कां नाहीं सारिखें । धरूनि पारिखें वर्त्ततसां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे अहो चतुरा शिरोमणि । किती माझी वाणी तुम्ही कोठें ॥३॥
Literal translation
How-anubhava-of-eating-to-antara — saying-māṇḍē-pūrī-what-happens. Nāhī-nāhī-taḷamaḷa-gone — why-Hari-Hara-chāḷavilē. Antar-sabāhī-not-sārikhē — keeping-me-pārikhē. Tukā: chaturā-śirōmaṇi — how-much-my-vāṇī-where-you.
What it means
A 3-verse anti-words-only text. Just saying 'māṇḍē-pūrī' (a feast) doesn't give the anubhava-of-eating to the antara; my taḷamaḷa hasn't gone; you've strung me along, Hari-Hara; the inside and outside don't match; you keep me alien. O clever-jewel — how much shall my voice speak? — where are you?
For someone today
Tukārām points out that simply naming a feast does not actually feed anyone, just as talking about a spiritual experience is not the same as truly having it inside you. His restlessness has not gone away, and he speaks to God directly, almost in complaint, asking why he has been strung along instead of given what he was promised. He asks why his inside and outside do not match, why he is kept feeling like a stranger rather than someone truly close. His closing question is raw and honest, how much longer must he keep speaking into silence, wondering where God actually is.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की केवळ मेजवानीचे नाव घेतल्याने कोणाचे पोट भरत नाही, त्याचप्रमाणे आध्यात्मिक अनुभवाबद्दल बोलणे म्हणजे तो प्रत्यक्ष आतून अनुभवणे नव्हे. त्यांची अस्वस्थता अजून गेलेली नाही, आणि ते थेट देवाशी बोलतात, जवळजवळ तक्रार करत, विचारतात की त्यांना का असे लटकवत ठेवले गेले, वचन दिलेले न देता. ते विचारतात की त्यांचे आतले आणि बाहेरचे रूप एकसारखे का नाही, त्यांना खऱ्या जवळच्या माणसासारखे न वागवता परका का ठेवले गेले. त्यांचा शेवटचा प्रश्न कच्चा आणि प्रामाणिक आहे, आणखी किती काळ त्यांनी शांततेत बोलत राहायचे, देव खरोखर कुठे आहे हे न कळता.
Where this applies
- When you realize that talking about a goal is not the same as actually reaching or living it
- When a restlessness inside you refuses to settle no matter how much you tell yourself things are fine
- When you feel let down by promises that never quite delivered what you expected
- When your inner feelings and your outward behavior do not match, and you sense that gap yourself