Self-knowledge cannot be told, only shared
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भ्रतारअंगसंगें सुखाची वेवस्था । आधीं तों सांगतां नये कोणा ॥1॥
तथापि सांगणें कुमारिकेपाशीं । ते काय मानसीं सुख मानी ॥ध्रु.॥
तैसा आत्मबोध आधीं बोलों नये । बोलासी तो काय सांपडेल ॥2॥
तथापि सांगणें बहिर्मुखापाशीं । तो काय संतोषासी मूळ होय ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे संत सुखाचे विभागी । ब्रह्मानंद जगीं साधुरूपें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The bliss of union with one's beloved cannot be described beforehand to anyone. Yet even when one tells an unmarried girl about it, does she truly feel that joy in her heart? In the same way, the knowledge of the Self should not be spoken of prematurely; can it be captured in words alone? Even so, telling an outward-facing person about it will not make him the source of true contentment. Says Tuka, the saints share in the bliss of the Self; Brahmananda walks the world in the form of holy beings.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The joy of union with one's beloved cannot be described beforehand to anyone. Even if you tell it to an unmarried girl, does she feel that joy in her heart? In the same way, the knowledge of the Self should not be spoken of before its time. Can it be caught in words at all? And even if you tell an outward-turned person, will that make him the source of true contentment? Tuka says: the saints share in this joy of the Self. The bliss of Brahman walks the world in the form of the holy.
What it means
Tukaram is explaining why the knowledge of the Self cannot simply be handed over in speech. He uses a frank human comparison: the bliss of union with one's beloved cannot be told in advance, and describing it to an unmarried girl gives her no taste of it. Self-knowledge is the same; it should not be spoken of prematurely, and words can never truly hold it, least of all for a person whose attention is turned outward. So where does it actually pass from one to another? In the company of the saints, who themselves share in that bliss. He ends with the point of the whole poem: the joy of Brahman does not live only in scripture but moves through the world in living, holy people, and that is where it is caught.
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