Social criticism, the empty talker
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं पाक होत उफराटे चाली । बोलिली ते केली व्हावी नीत ॥1॥
नाहीं मानूं येत वांजटाचे बोल । कोरडे च फोल चवी नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
तरुवरा आधीं कोठें आहे फळ । चावटा बरळ ह्मणा त्यासी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे किती ठकलीं बापुडीं । गव्हा आहे गोडी मांडे पुया ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
No cooking is done by walking backwards; what has been spoken must be practiced. The words of one who has no experience carry no weight; they are empty and tasteless. Where is the fruit before the tree has grown? Call such a person a mere babbler. Says Tuka, how many innocent souls have been deceived this way. Wheat has its own sweetness, but that only shows in the bread and cakes.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
No food is cooked by walking backwards. What you have said, you must actually do; that is right. The words of a man with no experience carry no weight. They are dry and hollow; they have no taste. Where is the fruit before the tree has even grown? Call such a man a babbler. Tuka says: how many poor, simple souls have been deceived this way. Wheat has its own sweetness, but you taste it only in the bread and the cakes.
What it means
Tukaram is testing words against deeds. Talking about the goal does not bring it any nearer, just as cooking is not done by walking backward; a man must practice what he preaches. He warns against the speaker who has never lived what he says: his words are dry, tasteless, and as empty as expecting fruit from a tree that has not yet grown. Such talk has deceived many trusting people. The point is plain: wheat holds real sweetness, but you only know it once it has been ground and baked, and so a teaching is proven only when it is lived.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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