Verse 387 of 450
Salok Sheikh Farid, Salok 86 — the alert boatman
ਲੰਮੀ ਲੰਮੀ ਨਦੀ ਵਹੈ ਕੰਧੀ ਕੇਰੈ ਹੇਤਿ ॥
lammee lammee nadee vahai kanDhee kayrai hayt.
The river flows on and on; it loves to eat into its banks.
ਬੇੜੇ ਨੋ ਕਪਰੁ ਕਿਆ ਕਰੇ ਜੇ ਪਾਤਣ ਰਹੈ ਸੁਚੇਤਿ ॥੮੬॥
bayrhay no kapar ki-aa karay jay paatan rahai suchayt. ||86||
What can the whirlpool do to the boat, if the boatman remains alert? ||86||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The long, long river flows on, and it loves to eat away at its banks.
But what can the whirlpool do to the boat if the boatman stays alert?
The whirlpool cannot sink a boat whose boatman stays alert.
An alert boatman brings the boat safely past the whirlpool.
Lammee lammee nadee vahai: the long river keeps flowing and wearing at its banks, the way the world keeps pulling at a person. The whirlpool is still there.
Jay paatan rahai suchayt: if the boatman stays awake and careful, the whirlpool can do nothing. Many readers hear the boatman as the Guru, or as a mind kept alert by remembering the One.
A Question to Sit With
What helps you stay steady and awake when life gets choppy?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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