Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
People even get tangled in religion, doing rituals and holding beliefs while the ego runs the show.
Their minds stay tangled up with their children, their wives, and other things.
This one says that even religion can become a net when ego is doing it.
BanDhan karam Dharam ha-o kee-aa — people get tied up in rituals and religious duty done from ha-o, the ego. BanDhan put kalat man bee-aa — and their minds stay tied up with children, spouse, and other things.
This is the boldest verse in the list. Ritual is not bad. But anything done to show off becomes one more thing we own, one more strand of the net. A prayer said to be seen. A belief held to feel better than others. A ceremony done while the mind is somewhere else.
Think of singing in a school concert while only thinking about how you look. The song is beautiful, but your heart is not in it. This is Aasaa's inward turn, aimed at religion itself. A practice is only as free as the heart doing it.
Can you tell when you are doing something good for its own sake, and when you are doing it to be seen?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI