Verse 155 of 450
Salok Bhagat Kabir, Salok 97 — every branch breaks
ਕਬੀਰ ਕਾਰਨੁ ਬਪੁਰਾ ਕਿਆ ਕਰੈ ਜਉ ਰਾਮੁ ਨ ਕਰੈ ਸਹਾਇ ॥
kabeer kaaran bapuraa ki-aa karai ja-o raam na karai sahaa-ay.
Kabir, what can the poor creature do, if the Lord does not give him assistance?
ਜਿਹ ਜਿਹ ਡਾਲੀ ਪਗੁ ਧਰਉ ਸੋਈ ਮੁਰਿ ਮੁਰਿ ਜਾਇ ॥੯੭॥
jih jih daalee pag Dhara-o so-ee mur mur jaa-ay. ||97||
Whatever branch he steps on breaks and collapses. ||97||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Kabir says: what can my poor efforts do on their own, if Raam, the One, does not help?
Every branch I step on bends and breaks beneath me.
Our own strength is a thin branch; the One's help is what holds.
Without the One's help, nothing we lean on holds.
Kaaran bapuraa ki-aa karai: the means a person uses, their effort and plans, are bapuraa, poor and helpless, ja-o raam na karai sahaa-ay, if Raam does not help.
Picture someone climbing a tree whose branches keep snapping: jih jih daalee pag dhara-o, whichever branch I step on, so-ee mur mur jaa-ay, that one breaks.
A Question to Sit With
When did help come that you could not have made happen yourself?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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