Experience, truth over clever words
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं सरो येत जोडिल्या वचनीं । कवित्वाची वाणी कुशळता ॥1॥
सत्याचा अनुभव वेधी सत्यपणें । अनुभवाच्या गुणें रुचों येतों ॥ध्रु.॥
काय आगीपाशीं शृंगारिलें चाले । पोटींचें उकले कसापाशीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे येथे करावा उकल । लागे चि ना बोल वाढवूनि ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Cleverly crafted words and poetic skill do not suffice. True experience captivates through its own truthfulness; by the quality of that experience, one becomes appealing. What use is adornment before a fire? What lies in the belly is revealed on the touchstone. Says Tuka, lay everything open here. Merely piling up words is of no use at all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Joined-up words and skill in verse do not carry you through. True experience holds you by its own truth; by the worth of that experience you become worth hearing. What use is ornament next to a fire? What is inside the belly comes out on the touchstone. Tuka says: lay it all open here. Piling up more words is no use at all.
What it means
Tukaram measures real spiritual experience against mere verbal skill and finds the words wanting. Clever poetry cannot stand on its own; only lived truth grips the listener, and it is the genuineness of that experience that makes a person worth hearing. His images cut sharp: finery means nothing before a fire, and the touchstone reveals what metal you really carry inside. So he asks for everything to be opened honestly here, because stacking up more words adds nothing where truth is what is being tested.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
More in this theme →