Direct experience over hearsay
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अंधळें तें सांगे सांगितल्या खुणा । अनुभव देखणा प्रगट त्या ॥1॥
नांदणुक सांगे वडिलाचें बळ । कैसा तो दुर्बळ सुख पावे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नांदों आपल्या प्रतापें । तयासी लोकांपें स्तुती सांगों ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A blind person can only repeat signs told to him, but one who sees speaks from direct experience. One who describes prosperity by invoking the power of ancestors shows how even a weak person finds comfort that way. Says Tuka, we shall live by our own merit and speak of it to the people with praise.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A blind man can only repeat the signs he was told. The one who sees speaks from what is plainly before him. A man who boasts of his standing by leaning on his ancestors' strength shows how even a weak person can find some comfort that way. Tuka says: we will live by our own strength, and we will speak its praise to the people.
What it means
Tukaram draws a line between borrowed words and firsthand sight. The blind man can recite the descriptions handed to him, but he has not seen; only the one with eyes speaks from what is actually before him. The boaster who props himself up on his ancestors' power is like that blind man, taking comfort from a strength that is not his own. Tukaram refuses both: he will stand on what he has realized for himself and let that realization, not inherited credit, be what he commends to others.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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