Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
How long must you dance, stretching out your feet, reaching out your hands?
Even stretching hand and foot takes a moment's delay — and in that moment my mind is already meditating on the One.
The practice inside you needs no steps to learn and no stage to stand on.
Kab ko naachai paav pasaarai — how long will you dance, stretching out your feet? How long will you reach out your hands? Even those moves take a moment. The devotee would rather spend that moment remembering.
Guru Ram Das is not against dance or music. Elsewhere in his own hymns, he praises them. He is showing that remembering the One is instant. It never has to stop to get ready. Think of loving your family. You do not need a costume to do it. It just keeps going, all day long. Other shabads in Raag Aasaa talk about an inner dance, one the heart does without moving the feet.
What can you do inwardly, anytime, without moving a muscle?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI