Salok Bhagat Kabir, Salok 123 — the crane that never forgets her chicks
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Kabir says: the mother crane pecks at her food, and still she remembers her chicks. She pecks and pecks and feeds, and remembers them again and again.
Her chicks are that dear to her, just as wealth and the love of owning things are dear to the mind.
The mind keeps returning to what it loves, the way a mother bird keeps thinking of her chicks.
Chugai chitaarai bhee chugai: she pecks, she remembers, she pecks again. The koonj is a crane that flies far from its nest to feed, and the old stories say it keeps its chicks in mind the whole time.
Man maa-i-aa mamtaa: the mind's clinging to maya, the world's shine, and to the feeling of "mine." The mind holds on to its things the same way, never far from them even while busy with something else.
Think of checking a phone again and again during dinner. Kabir sees how steady that pull is. The same steadiness, turned toward the One, becomes remembering.
What does your mind keep returning to, even when you are busy?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI