Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When the puppet gets something it wants, it puffs up proud.
And when it loses it, it cries and wails.
Ravi Daas smiles at how we puff up when we get things and fall apart when we lose them.
The puppet here is us. Jab kachh paavai tab garab karat hai — when it gets something, it swells with garab, pride. "Look what I have!" Maa-i-aa ga-ee tab rovan lagat hai — when its maa-i-aa, its wealth and things, are gone, it starts to cry.
Up and down, up and down. The puppet bounces with every win and every loss. Think of getting a new toy and feeling on top of the world. Then it breaks, and the whole day feels ruined.
There is warm humor here, and a mirror. How often do we do exactly this? Proud when things go our way, crushed when they don't. Ravi Daas is not scolding. He asks us to notice the pattern and smile at it. Getting things does not have to puff us up, and losing them does not have to knock us down. That bouncing is just the puppet on its strings. There is a calmer, steadier way to stand.
Have you noticed yourself feeling big when you get something and low when you lose it? What would be steadier?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI