Knowledge versus lived experience
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देखीचें तें ज्ञान करावें तें काई । अनुभव नाहीं आपणासी ॥1॥
इंिद्रयांचे गोडी ठकलीं बहुतें । सोडितां मागुतें आवरेना ॥ध्रु.॥
युक्तीचा आहार नीतीचा वेव्हार । वैराग्य तें सार तरावया ॥2॥
नाव रेवािळतां घाला घाली वारा । तैसा तो पसारा अहंतेचा ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे बुिद्ध आपुले अधीन । करी नारायण आतुडे तों ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Of what use is knowledge gained only from observation, without personal experience? Many have been deceived by the allure of the senses; once released, they cannot be reined in again. A measured diet, righteous conduct, and detachment are the essentials for crossing over. When a boat is rocked, the wind strikes blow after blow; such is the storm of egoism. Says Tuka, keep the intellect under your own control and strive until Narayana is attained.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What use is the knowledge you get only from watching, when you have no experience of your own? The sweetness of the senses has cheated many. Once you let it loose, it will not be reined in again. A measured diet, honest dealing, dispassion: these are what carry you across. When a boat is rocked, the wind strikes it blow on blow. The sprawl of the ego is just like that. Tuka says: keep your mind under your own command, and strive until Narayana is reached.
What it means
Tukaram is drawing a hard line between knowing about the path and walking it. Knowledge gathered by watching others is useless, he says, if you have no experience of your own; many have been deceived by the pleasure of the senses, which cannot be reined back once let loose. What actually carries a person across is plain and practical: a measured diet, honest conduct, and dispassion. He pictures the ego as a wind battering a rocked boat, blow after blow. So he ends with the instruction: keep your own mind under your control, and do not stop striving until Narayana himself is reached.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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