Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Kabir says: the moment wisdom arrived, the old foolishness lost its hold on me completely.
Wisdom is with me now — and the old habit has gone off to trouble someone else, no longer mine.
When wisdom moves in, foolishness loses its grip and leaves on its own.
Kabir ends his little story with a clever twist. Jab lahuree aa-ee badee kaa suhaag tari-o — when the younger bride, wisdom, came, the older one, foolishness, lost her place. She could not stay once wisdom arrived.
Jaythee a-or dhari-o — the older one went off with someone else. The foolishness is gone, and it is no longer his.
Here is the gentle truth in this. You cannot really push a bad habit out by force. But when you truly welcome something better, the old habit loses its hold. It is like a crowded bench. When a good friend sits down, there is no room left for the bully. Fill the space with wisdom, and foolishness has nowhere to live. The best way to drop a bad habit is to take up a good one in its place.
Instead of just fighting a bad habit, what good one could you welcome in to take its place?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI