According to Osho, Gorakh Nath rejects pundits because they are mere parrots of scripture—scholars without lived realization. Their borrowed words mask ignorance; scholarship becomes counterfeit knowing. Truth is simple and experiential, not ornate Sanskrit or intellectual display used to impress or confuse. Only direct tasting awakens the inner lamp; repetition and pretension cannot transform life.
Gorakh Nath opposes pundits because they just talk about God without feeling or living it, like parrots repeating words they don’t understand.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Why is gorakh nath against pundits?
Now this is a very strange business, first write the letter then you have to go to the next village to read it, because no one else can read it. One man was having a letter written. After having the whole letter written -- a letter to his beloved -- after having the long letter written down he said, "Nasruddin, now read it out once so my heart can be satisfied that I have said what I want to write." Nasruddin said, "This is a difficult matter." He said, "Why? What's the harm in reading it?" Nasruddin said, "The first thing is that it is not addressed to me so how can I read it?" The villager said, "It is a legal question. It looks correct. Yes you are right, if it is not addressed to you, so how can you read it?" Mulla said, "Do you understand? First the…
Question: Third question: Osho, why is Gorakhnath against pandits? This is the language of experience. A well-read parrot cannot speak like this. The well-read parrot begins to whimper; he forgets the name of Ram and starts praising the cat—“Mother, spare me! I made a mistake. From today I’ll worship and pray only to you—why was I lost in Ram-ram!” Gorakh says: The one who merely mouths doctrine, call him a student; the one who reads the Vedas is but a grandson. The one who lives the way is our master; we are companions of the one who lives. The one who only repeats hearsay is a student; not a knower—at best a student: all right, he is studying. And even this—only if what he repeats has been heard from a living master—then he is a disciple; that is his status.
These so-called knowers have not the tiniest drop of knowing. They cannot receive it either. They have plastered themselves with the oil of scriptures—they are slick pots; the rain falls and not a drop clings. Have you seen anything slicker than a pundit? Water cannot touch him. When I was small, our neighbor sold ghee. His clothes were soaked with ghee—an extreme miser; perhaps he owned no second set of clothes. I saw him bathe—he did not remove them; he poured water over himself and it would not wet the cloth. I have seen no such wonder again! Such is the pundit. Knowledge the size of a sesame seed does not enter them—better to keep quiet. Do not knock your head against pundits. Paltu says: avoid them; they are great fools. Neither love’s arrow nor meditation’s shaft has pierced them; no dawning of wisdom.
Therefore if pundits are annoyed with saints, do not be surprised—for to the pundit the saint says “owl.” The sun has risen; the owl counts it night. If the owls gather and crucify again, be content—for what else can owls do? All the owls of Athens gathered and gave Socrates poison. A Tattvavadi appears once in a while—like Socrates. But the assembly of owls! The squirrel was alone; the owls were in a flock… The learned learn—and with limited knowledge speak of Brahman. Outward moonlight; within, the black night. The learned learn—knowledge that is limited. Your doctrines have boundaries; they are not agamic. They are definable. The learned learns limited knowledge—and talks of Brahman. Your doctrines are finite, and you speak of the Infinite? Outwardly there is moonlight; within, a black night. Within the pundit you will find new moon—dense darkness. Sometimes even darker than the ignorant.
When you meet a being who has tasted light; you, who know nothing of it—one who has seen light—then in his eyes you will glimpse a little of that radiance which he has seen. One who has returned from the Himalayas—within his ripple you will taste a little of the Himalaya’s peace. One who has just wandered through a garden—upon his garments a faint fragrance of flowers will yet cling. One who has just come from bathing—you will feel a freshness near him. Just so, one who has seen within, awakened and lived there—his glance, the tone of his presence, the glory of his face, the vibration of his being, are transformed. Sit near him and the journey toward light begins. Kathani kathai so sish boliye! But how to recognize? There are great scholars in the world; they have the Vedas by heart. They write commentaries on the Upanishads.