Social criticism, learning without sight
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पंडित ह्मणतां थोर सुख । परि तो पाहातां अवघा मूर्ख ॥1॥
काय करावें घोकिलें । वेदपठण वांयां गेलें ॥ध्रु.॥
वेदीं सांगितलें तें न करी । सम ब्रह्म नेणे दुराचारी ॥2॥
तुका देखे जीवीं शिव । हा तेथींचा अनुभव ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Being called a pandit gives one great satisfaction, yet look closely and you find him a complete fool. What good is all that memorized learning? His recitation of the Vedas has gone entirely to waste. He does not practice what the Vedas teach; the wicked one does not see the equality of Brahman. Says Tuka, one who sees Shiva in every living being has true experience of that reality.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To be called a pandit brings great pleasure, but look closely and the man is a complete fool. What use is all that he has memorized? His recitation of the Vedas has gone to waste. He does not do what the Vedas say. The wrongdoer does not know that Brahman is the same in all. Tuka says: one who sees Shiva in every living being, that is true experience.
What it means
Tukaram separates the title 'pandit' from real knowing. A man may relish being called learned and may recite the Vedas perfectly, yet if he does not live by what they teach, the learning is wasted. The crucial thing the Vedas point to, he says, is the sameness of Brahman in everything, and the man of bad conduct precisely fails to see it. The poem moves the measure of wisdom from memory to vision and practice. Real knowledge is to see Shiva, the divine, in every living being; that seeing, not recitation, is what Tukaram calls genuine experience.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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