Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Even the great one called master of all three worlds lifts countless burdens from others. Yet he went wandering from holy place to holy place, searching and searching.
And still one heavy thing from the past stayed with him, and no journey could rub it away.
No amount of travel is a shortcut past what is real.
Anik paatik hartaa taribhavan naath ree: Shiva, the taribhavan naath, the Lord of the three worlds, takes away countless wrongs for others. Tirath tirath bharmataa lahai na paar ree: yet he wandered tirath tirath, from holy place to holy place, and found no end to it.
The last line says he still could not shed the result of an old deed. Think of trying to leave your homework behind by moving to a new desk. The homework comes with you. Even endless pilgrimage is no shortcut around cause and effect. The story is told to help us stop hunting for shortcuts around honesty, not to frighten anyone.
Have you ever kept busy to avoid dealing with something you knew you had to face?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI