Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
What can the poor crane gain by bathing in a little mud puddle?
It sinks into the mud, and the dirt does not wash off.
Splashing in mud does not make you clean. Where you bathe matters.
This is the Rahao, the "pause" line at the center of the hymn. Ki-aa bag bapurhaa chhaprhee naa-ay — what can the poor crane get by bathing in a mud puddle? Keecharh doobai mail na jaa-ay — it sinks into the mud, and the dirt does not wash off.
The bag, or crane, is Guru Nanak's picture of empty, showy practice. There is lots of splashing, but nothing gets clean. It is like "cleaning" your room by pushing everything under the bed. It looks busy, but it does not do the job.
Some ways of trying to feel pure only leave you muddier. The crane shows up again in a later hymn, by Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru, as a picture of someone who only pretends to meditate.
Is there something you do that looks like effort but does not change you inside?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI