Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The crazy ones are fast asleep.
Living without remembering the One is like being fast asleep.
This is the Rahao, the "pause" line, the center of the shabad. It is one short, strong line. Baavar so-ay rahay — the baavar, people who have lost their sense, are asleep.
Why call it both losing your sense and sleeping? Because forgetting the One means not seeing what is real. It means not being awake to the one thing that matters most.
Think of sleeping through the best part of a trip. The mountains roll past the window, and you miss them all. Guru Arjan says this plainly, but with care, not scorn. Another shabad of his in this raag has the same picture: a river sweeping people along while they sleep.
What does it mean to be truly awake versus sleepwalking through life?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI