Abhanga 4099
Some joys, like deep spiritual realization, cannot be explained in words beforehand, they can only be understood by those who have actually lived them.
The verse
भ्रतारअंगसंगें सुखाची वेवस्था । आधीं तों सांगतां नये कोणा ॥१॥
तथापि सांगणें कुमारिकेपाशीं । ते काय मानसीं सुख मानी ॥ध्रु.॥
तैसा आत्मबोध आधीं बोलों नये । बोलासी तो काय सांपडेल ॥२॥
तथापि सांगणें बहिर्मुखापाशीं । तो काय संतोषासी मूळ होय ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे संत सुखाचे विभागी । ब्रम्हानंद जगीं साधुरूपें ॥४॥
Literal translation
Bhrātāra-sukha-can't-tell-first. Tell-kumārikā-what-can-she-recognize? Ātma-bōdha-can't-be-told-first-words-can't-find. Tell-bahir-mukha-no-root-of-samtoṣa. Tukā: santas-share-sukha — brahmānanda-in-sādhu-rūpa.
What it means
A 4-verse anubhava-incommunicable text — companion to 2949 (which uses the same maithuna-analogy more compactly). The husband's-body-contact joy cannot be told to anyone beforehand. Even if you tell a young unmarried girl — what joy can her mind recognize? Just so, ātma-bōdha cannot be spoken first; would the words even find it? Even if you tell someone whose-face-is-outward — what root of contentment can that have? The santas are the partners-of-sharing of this joy; brahmānanda is in the world — in the form of the sādhu. The maithuna-analogy (consummated-marriage-joy-incommunicable-to-virgin) is Tukārām's signature image for anubhava-vs-śābdika-knowledge — repeated here at length. The conclusion: brahmānanda is shared among santas, in sādhu-form. Pair with 2949 (maithuna-analogy compact), 3118 (anubhava-vs-pāṭha).
For someone today
Tukaram says some kinds of joy simply cannot be explained in advance, only lived. He compares it to trying to describe the intimacy of marriage to an unmarried girl, whose mind has nothing to compare it to no matter how well you explain it. In the same way, deep spiritual realization cannot be handed over in words, especially to someone whose attention is always turned outward toward the world rather than inward. This joy, he says, is something only fellow seekers who have tasted it can truly share with each other, and it shows up in the world through the presence of a genuine sadhu.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की काही प्रकारचा आनंद आधीच शब्दांत सांगता येत नाही, तो फक्त अनुभवानेच कळतो. ते याची तुलना विवाहित सुखाची कल्पना अविवाहित मुलीला सांगण्याशी करतात, कितीही समजावले तरी तिच्या मनाला त्याची खरी जाणीव होऊ शकत नाही. त्याचप्रमाणे खरा आत्मबोध शब्दांत आधी सांगता येत नाही, विशेषतः ज्याचे लक्ष सतत बाह्य जगाकडेच असते त्याला तर तो अजिबात कळत नाही. हा आनंद फक्त ज्यांनी तो चाखला आहे असे साधकच एकमेकांशी खऱ्या अर्थाने वाटून घेऊ शकतात, आणि खऱ्या साधूच्या रूपाने तो जगात प्रकट होतो.
Where this applies
- When you try to explain a deep experience to someone who has never gone through anything like it
- When you feel frustrated that words fail to capture something you have truly felt
- When you meet someone whose attention stays fixed on the outer world and cannot grasp what you are describing
- When you finally find another seeker who understands your experience without needing it explained