ਮਾਧਉ ਦਾਰੁਨ ਦੁਖੁ ਸਹਿਓ ਨ ਜਾਇ ॥
maaDha-o daarun dukh sahi-o na jaa-ay.
O Lord, I cannot endure this agonizing pain.
ਮੇਰੋ ਚਪਲ ਬੁਧਿ ਸਿਉ ਕਹਾ ਬਸਾਇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
mayro chapal buDh si-o kahaa basaa-ay. ||1|| rahaa-o.
What power does my fickle mind have against it? ||1||Pause||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O Lord of all, this terrible pain is too much for me to bear.
What power does my jumpy, flickering mind have against it?
When your own mind cannot manage something, it is strength to reach for help.
Some pain is too heavy for a jumpy mind to carry alone, so the heart calls out to the One.
This is the rahaa-o, the "pause" line, the center of the shabad. Maadha-o is a loving name for the One. Daarun dukh: terrible pain. Chapal budh: the fickle, flickering mind, which jumps from thing to thing.
Think of trying to hold water in your cupped hands. It slips through however hard you squeeze. The fickle mind cannot hold steady against this pain on its own, so it turns to the One.
A Question to Sit With
When is it wise to ask for help instead of pushing through alone?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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