Salok Bhagat Kabir, Salok 90 — the burnt wood's cry

ਕਬੀਰ ਬਨ ਕੀ ਦਾਧੀ ਲਾਕਰੀ ਠਾਢੀ ਕਰੈ ਪੁਕਾਰ ॥

kabeer ban kee daaDhee laakree thaadhee karai pukaar.

Kabir, the forest is burning; the tree standing in it is crying out,

ਮਤਿ ਬਸਿ ਪਰਉ ਲੁਹਾਰ ਕੇ ਜਾਰੈ ਦੂਜੀ ਬਾਰ ॥੯੦॥

mat bas para-o luhaar kay jaarai doojee baar. ||90||

"Do not let me fall into the hands of the blacksmith, who would burn me a second time."||90||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Kabir says: the wood burned in the forest fire stands there, crying out:

"Do not let me fall into the blacksmith's hands, or he will burn me a second time!"

Once you have been burned by a fire, you pray never to walk back into it.

The deeper layer

A soul that has already suffered once cries out not to be caught in the same fire again.

Ban kee daadhee laakree: wood already scorched by a forest fire. The fire is the hard life a person has already been through, caught up in wanting and ego.

The luhaar, blacksmith, burns wood again in his furnace to make charcoal: jaarai doojee baar, a second burning. It is a picture of being caught in the same suffering once more, life after life. The wood's cry is a prayer: do not let me go through this again.

A Question to Sit With

What hard lesson would you never want to repeat?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

← Verse 147 of 450 Salok Bhagat Kabir, Salok 89 — carrying other people's loads

Verse 149 of 450 →Salok Bhagat Kabir, Salok 91 — the riddle of one, two, four and six

Use ← → to navigate