Salok Bhagat Kabir, Salok 77 — what lifts up whatever it touches
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Kabir says: the magic touchstone and the sandalwood tree share one good quality.
Whatever touches them is lifted up: iron turns into gold, and plain wood with no scent becomes fragrant.
Some things raise up whatever comes near them.
The paaras is the touchstone of old stories that turns iron into gold at a touch. Chandan is sandalwood, whose scent passes into the trees growing beside it. Tinh hai ayk sugandh, the two share one gift.
Tih mil tay-oo ootam bha-ay: whatever meets them becomes noble, loh kaath nirgandh, iron and scentless wood alike. In Kabir's saloks these pictures often stand for the Guru and the One's people, whose nearness changes those around them.
Think of standing near a campfire on a cold night. You do not have to do anything; the warmth reaches you.
Who makes you better just by being near them?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI