Salok Bhagat Kabir, Salok 49 — back to the ocean
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Kabir says: the fish is in shallow water, and the fisherman has cast his net.
You will not escape from this little pool. Think again, and remember the ocean.
A small pool cannot keep the fish safe; only the ocean can.
Kabir pictures a maachhulee, a little fish, in thorai jal, shallow water. The jheevar, the fisherman, has spread his jaal, his net. The fish thinks the pool is home, but the pool is where it gets caught.
Ih toghnai na chhootsahi, you will not get free in this little pond. Fir kar samund samhaal, turn back and remember the ocean. The small pool is the little world of wanting and holding on; the ocean is the One, wide and deep.
Think of a goldfish in a bowl next to an open sea. The bowl feels safe, and it is very small.
What small thing do you sometimes hold on to as if it were the whole world?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI