Experience, words are only sweet-cakes
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वचनांचे मांडे दावावे प्रकार । काय त्या साचार कौतुकाचे ॥1॥
जातां घरा मागें । उरों नेणें खंती । मिळाल्या बहुतीं फांकलिया ॥ध्रु.॥
उदयीं च अस्त उदयो संपादला । कल्पनेचा केला जागेपणें ॥2॥
जाणवूनि गेला हांडोरियां पोरां । सावध इतरां करुनी तुका ॥3॥
स्वामीस संतांनीं पुसलें कीं तुह्मांस वैराग्य कोण्या प्रकारें जालें तें सांगा - ते अभंग ॥ 3 ॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What manner of delight are these sweet-cakes of words laid out on display? What genuine wonder is there in them? When you return home, no sorrow lingers behind; what gathered in multitude scatters again. In the dawn itself, sunset was already accomplished; all that imagination conceived was done while still awake. Says Tuka, he went ahead, having alerted the wandering children and made the rest watchful.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
These are sweet-cakes of words laid out for show; what real wonder is in them? When you go home, no sorrow stays behind; what gathered in a crowd scatters again. In the dawn itself the sunset was already done; all that imagining built was finished while still awake. Tuka says: he went on ahead, having warned the wandering children and made the rest watchful.
What it means
Asked by the saints how his detachment came about, Tukaram first warns that fine words are like ornamental sweets, pretty to display but empty of real substance. He notices that gatherings disperse and leave nothing behind, the way a crowd scatters when you turn for home. The heart of it is the line about dawn already holding sunset: he saw, while wide awake, that everything imagination builds is already finished, already passing. Having seen this through, he moves on ahead and leaves a warning for those still caught up in the play.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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