Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
It's hard to swim across when you're weighed down by too much clinging.
So set down some of the load — that's the first step to floating free.
The verse pictures being unable to swim across the water because you're engrossed — weighed down by worldly grasping. The stark line about being 'ruined' by what's 'written on the forehead' can sound like harsh fate, but in Mehl 3 it functions as a wake-up, not a sentence: the point of naming the sinking is to prompt the letting-go that would keep you afloat. A swimmer crossing deep water can't carry heavy loads in both arms. The kindest thing the verse does is tell you why you're struggling — you're holding too much — so you can loosen your grip.
What is something you could 'set down' that's been weighing you down lately?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI