ਆਸਾ ਮਹਲਾ ੫ ॥
aasaa mehlaa 5.
Aasaa, Fifth Mehl:
ਹਰਿ ਰਸੁ ਛੋਡਿ ਹੋਛੈ ਰਸਿ ਮਾਤਾ ॥
har ras chhod hochhai ras maataa.
Forsaking the Lord's sublime essence, the mortal is intoxicated with false essences.
ਘਰ ਮਹਿ ਵਸਤੁ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਉਠਿ ਜਾਤਾ ॥੧॥
ghar meh vasat baahar uth jaataa. ||1||
The substance is within the home of the self, but the mortal goes out to find it. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Turning away from the One's true essence, a person gets drunk on false ones.
The real substance is right inside the home of the self — yet he goes outside to look for it.
You go searching outside for what is already inside the home of your own self.
The central irony: "the substance is within the home of the self, but the mortal goes out to find it." Forsaking the One's real essence (the Har Ras), the soul gets "intoxicated with false essences" — chasing outside for what was always within (cf. Shabad 89).
A Question to Sit With
What have you looked for far and wide that was with you all along?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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