ਮੈਲਾ ਮੋਤੀ ਮੈਲਾ ਹੀਰੁ ॥
mailaa motee mailaa heer.
The pearl is polluted, the diamond is polluted.
ਮੈਲਾ ਪਉਨੁ ਪਾਵਕੁ ਅਰੁ ਨੀਰੁ ॥੩॥
mailaa pa-un paavak ar neer. ||3||
Wind, fire and water are polluted. ||3||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The pearl is stained, and the diamond is stained.
Wind, fire and water are stained too.
The things we use to “clean” can't make a heart clean.
Even the things people use to make themselves clean carry stains of their own.
Mailaa motee mailaa heer: the pearl and the diamond, the most flawless-looking things, are stained. Water, fire and air were the old purifiers. People bathed to become clean and passed things through fire. Kabir says even pa-un, paavak, neer, wind, fire and water, are mailaa. So a ritual bath cannot give a purity the water does not have. The cleaning has to happen deeper, in the heart.
A Question to Sit With
Can washing your hands make your heart kind? Where do you think a clean heart comes from?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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