Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Let reverent awe be the spin of your dance, whether you are sitting still or standing tall.
To bow low to the ground is to remember, honestly, that this body is just dust.
So dance — in love — and let your whole self keep the beat.
Let a sense of wonder be the spin of your dance.
Bha-o fayree hovai man cheet — let bha-o, loving awe, be the spinning of your dance. Keep it going whether you sit or stand. Awe is the feeling you get looking up at a huge starry sky. It makes you feel small and glad at the same time.
In those old dances, dancers rolled in the dust. Guru Nanak gives that a new meaning. Laytan layt jaanai tan su-aahu — to roll in the dust is to know the body is only ashes. This is not gloomy. It is an honest, steadying truth folded into the joy. Knowing that our bodies do not last keeps the dance humble.
How can remembering that life is short make you dance through it more fully, not less?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI