Chaubolay, Verse 9 — beauty grows from the humble low place
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Climbing a hundred thousand steep, high hillsides, the restless mind ends up worn out and miserable.
Look at the low, humble mud — out of it grows the beautiful lotus.
The most beautiful things bloom from the humble low places.
Lakh ghaatee(n) oo(n)chou ghano: climbing hillside after steep hillside. The chanchal cheet, the restless mind, only wears itself out. Neech keech: the low mud. From that humble mud grows the kamal, the lotus.
The word jamaal means beauty, so the line ends on "the beautiful lotus." Some read it as the name of a friend, Jamaal, being spoken to, the way Musan is spoken to in other verses. Either way, worth grows from humility, never from height or rank.
Where have you seen something beautiful grow from a humble beginning?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI