ਜੋਇ ਖਸਮੁ ਹੈ ਜਾਇਆ ॥
jo-ay khasam hai jaa-i-aa.
The wife gives birth to her husband.
ਪੂਤਿ ਬਾਪੁ ਖੇਲਾਇਆ ॥
poot baap khaylaa-i-aa.
The son leads his father in play.
ਬਿਨੁ ਸ੍ਰਵਣਾ ਖੀਰੁ ਪਿਲਾਇਆ ॥੧॥
bin sarvanaa kheer pilaa-i-aa. ||1||
Without breasts, the mother nurses her baby. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The wife gives birth to her husband.
The son leads his father in play.
With no breast, the baby is given milk to drink.
The world holds puzzles that ordinary logic alone can never solve.
Some truths come as upside-down riddles that shake the mind awake.
This is an ulat-baasi, an upside-down riddle. Kabir loved these: the wife gives birth to the husband, the son leads the father in play. They point to turnarounds inside a person, and they jolt the mind out of its usual logic.
A Question to Sit With
What is a puzzle or riddle that once made you see something in a brand-new way?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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