Verse 76 of 450
Salok Bhagat Kabir, Salok 18 — the butter and the whey
ਕਬੀਰ ਮਾਇਆ ਡੋਲਨੀ ਪਵਨੁ ਝਕੋਲਨਹਾਰੁ ॥
kabeer maa-i-aa dolnee pavan jhakolanhaar.
Kabir, Maya is the butter-churn, and the breath is the churning-stick.
ਸੰਤਹੁ ਮਾਖਨੁ ਖਾਇਆ ਛਾਛਿ ਪੀਐ ਸੰਸਾਰੁ ॥੧੮॥
santahu maakhan khaa-i-aa chhaachh pee-ai sansaar. ||18||
The Saints eat the butter, while the world drinks the whey. ||18||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Kabir says: Maya, the world, is the butter churn, and the breath is the stick that churns it.
The saints have eaten the butter, while the world drinks the thin whey.
The same daily churning gives butter or whey, depending on what you seek.
The same life can give you the butter or only the leftover whey.
Maya, the world of things, is the dolnee, the churn. The pavan, the breath, is the churning stick; a whole life is the churning. The saints draw out maakhan, the butter. The world settles for chhaachh, the thin whey left over. What you seek decides what you gather.
A Question to Sit With
Two people can do the same thing and get very different things out of it. Why?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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