ਆਖੇਰ ਬਿਰਤਿ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਆਇਓ ਧਾਇ ॥
aakhayr birat baahar aa-i-o Dhaa-ay.
My mind used to run around outside hunting.
ਅਹੇਰਾ ਪਾਇਓ ਘਰ ਕੈ ਗਾਂਇ ॥੨॥
ahayraa paa-i-o ghar kai gaaN-ay. ||2||
But now, I have found the game within the home of my body-village. ||2||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
My mind, in the habit of hunting, used to run around outside.
Now I have found the game at home, in the village of my own body.
What you keep chasing outside is often already inside.
What the mind hunted for outside is found at home, inside the body.
Aakhayr birat is the hunting habit of the mind, forever running outward. The turn comes with ghar kai gaanay — the home of the body-village. What the mind sought everywhere outside is found the moment attention turns inward. It is the same inward turn that runs through all of Guru Arjan's Bhairao shabads.
A Question to Sit With
When have you looked everywhere for something that was near you the whole time?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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