Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Wisdom is like a good, sturdy boat for crossing the choppy waters of a mixed-up age.
Turn toward it, and you find safe passage; what's true comes to live inside you.
Remembering, gathering, treasuring the good — that's what earns real honor.
This Shalok names the Guru (the awakening wisdom) as "the boat in this Dark Age of Kali Yuga." Kali Yuga is the traditional "dark age" of confusion and moral fog; the Gurus don't despair of it — they say its very simplicity is a mercy (elsewhere: the medicine of this age is just remembrance, the Name). Here the boat-image says: in a confusing time, wisdom carries you across. "He remembers the Name, gathers the Name, obtains honor through the Name" — the threefold life of a heart turned toward good. For a child: when things feel confusing and mixed-up, wisdom is a sturdy boat you can trust.
When everything feels confusing, what's a 'sturdy boat' of wisdom you can climb into?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI