Experience, the touchstone of attainment
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
2866. जालों म्हणती त्याचें मज वाटे आश्चर्य । ऐका नव्हे धीर वचन माझें ॥1॥
शिजलिया अन्ना ग्वाही दांत हात । जिव्हेसी चाखत न कळे कैसें ॥ध्रु.॥
तापलिया तेली बावन चंदन । बुंद एक क्षण शीतळ करी ॥2॥
पारखी तो जाणे अंतरींचा भेद । मूढजना छंद लावण्यांचा ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे कसीं निवडे आपण । शुद्ध मंद हीन जैसें तैसें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I marvel at those who claim they have attained; hear my words, for I cannot hold back. When food is cooked, the teeth and hands bear witness, yet somehow the tongue does not register the taste. A single drop of sandalwood oil cools a cauldron of boiling oil in an instant. The true connoisseur knows the inner distinction; the foolish are captivated only by outward beauty. Says Tuka, the touchstone reveals of its own accord what is pure, what is dull, and what is base, each exactly as it is.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Those who say they have arrived: I marvel at it. Hear me, I cannot hold the words back. When food is cooked, the teeth and hands tell, but somehow the tongue does not taste it. One drop of sandal oil cools a whole cauldron of boiling oil in a moment. The true judge knows the inner difference. Fools are caught only by outward beauty. Tuka says: the touchstone sorts it of itself, the pure, the dull, the base, each just as it is.
What it means
Tukaram is unmasking people who announce that they have reached the goal. His first image is sharp: with cooked food the hands and teeth do their work, yet the tongue never registers the taste, which is how empty attainment can look busy and devout while the inner relish is simply absent. Then the opposite case: a single drop of real sandal oil cools an entire vat of boiling oil at once, because what is genuine acts quietly and unmistakably. The difference is invisible to the crowd, who fall for surfaces, and visible only to the true connoisseur. He ends with the touchstone: tested, every claim shows its own grade by itself, pure or dull or base, and no one can talk their way past it.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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