Experience, the proof is the fullness
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ढेकरें जेवण दिसे साचें । नाहीं तरि काचें कुंथाकुंथी ॥१॥
हे ही बोल ते ही बोल । कोरडे फोल रुचीविण ॥ध्रु.॥
गव्हांचिया होती परी । फके वरी खाऊं नये ॥२॥
तुकां म्हणे असे हातींचें कांकण । तयासी दर्पण विल्हाळक ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
By the belch, the eating is seen to be genuine. Otherwise it is straining and straining, dry chaff without taste. It may look like wheat, but do not eat mere husks. Tuka says: when the bangle is on your wrist, a mirror is foolish indulgence.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You can tell a real meal by the satisfied belch that follows; without that, it is only straining and effort, dry chaff with no taste. A thing may look like wheat, but do not eat mere husks. Tuka says: when the bangle is already on your wrist, holding up a mirror to check is a foolish indulgence.
What it means
Tukaram insists on the proof of real experience over the appearance of it. A true meal leaves you satisfied; talk and effort without that fullness are just dry husks dressed up as grain. The wonderful last image makes it personal: if the bangle is on your wrist, you do not need a mirror to know it is there; you feel it directly. So with God. Once the inner experience is real, you no longer need outer confirmation or display. The husk-eaters and the mirror-checkers are those who have the form of devotion but have not tasted the thing itself.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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