Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The people who came before you kept up the same outer show —
and it did nothing for them. So don't just copy it.
Kabir points out that the one before you did the same thing — kept up the same outer appearance — and it gained her nothing. His advice: don't just follow in those footsteps. There's a quiet wisdom here about not doing something merely because it's always been done or because everyone else does it. Customs get passed down, and people keep repeating them out of habit, never asking whether they actually mean anything. Kabir invites a gentle questioning: is this outer thing I'm doing actually good and real, or am I just copying what came before? For a child, it's permission to think about traditions and habits rather than blindly following — to ask what's really behind them.
Is it always right to do something just because 'that's how it's always been done'? How do you decide?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI