ਆਸਾ ਮਹਲਾ ੫ ॥
aasaa mehlaa 5.
Aasaa, Fifth Mehl:
ਹਰਿ ਬਿਸਰਤ ਸੋ ਮੂਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
har bisrat so moo-aa. ||1|| rahaa-o.
One who forgets the Lord is dead. ||1||Pause||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
One who forgets the Lord is dead.
To forget the One is a kind of death-in-life, however busy you look.
Forgetting the One is like being awake on the outside but asleep on the inside.
This is the Rahao, the "pause" line at the center of the shabad. Har bisrat so moo-aa — whoever forgets the One is dead. Bisrat means forgetting.
It is a strong line. It doesn't mean the body has stopped. It means a soul cut off from where it came from has lost its life, however busy it looks. Think of a lamp unplugged from the wall. It can sit on the table looking fine, but no light comes out. Another shabad in this raag says the same.
A Question to Sit With
What does it mean to be truly alive rather than just busy?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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