Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Their armor is the love of tasty things. Their helmets are "me and mine." They take aim with bows of crooked thinking.
The greed that fills their hearts is the arrow. With all this, the fortress cannot be taken.
The fort's guards wear armor made of wanting, and pushing harder can't break through it.
Kabir dresses the guards. Savaad, the love of tasty things, is their armor. Mamtaa, the feeling of "mine, mine," is their helmet. Kubudh, crooked thinking, is the bow they aim. And tisnaa, thirst for more, is the arrows.
I-o gadh lee-o na jaa-ee — that is why the fort cannot be taken.
Here is the clever part. The fort is armored in the very things that make us want to grab and force. Think of trying to stop being grumpy by being grumpy at yourself. It only makes the grumpiness stronger. Something else is needed, and the next line shows what.
What tangled thinking sometimes gets in your own way?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI