Sikhism·Raag Dhanaasaree·Shabad 95
Verse 6 of 10

None of the Stages Filled Me

ਸਗਲ ਅਸ੍ਰਮ ਕੀਨੇ ਮਨੂਆ ਨਹ ਪਤੀਨੇ ਬਿਬੇਕਹੀਨ ਦੇਹੀ ਧੋਏ ॥
sagal asram keenay manoo-aa nah pateenay bibaykheen dayhee Dho-ay.
I have followed the four stages of life, but my mind is not satisfied; I wash my body, but it is totally lacking in understanding.
ਕੋਈ ਪਾਈਐ ਰੇ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਬਿਧਾਤਾ ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮ ਕੈ ਰੰਗਿ ਰਾਤਾ ਮੇਰੇ ਮਨ ਕੀ ਦੁਰਮਤਿ ਮਲੁ ਖੋਏ ॥੫॥
ko-ee paa-ee-ai ray purakh biDhaataa paarbarahm kai rang raataa mayray man kee durmat mal kho-ay. ||5||
If only I could meet some devotee of the Supreme Lord God, imbued with the Lord's Love, who could eradicate the filthy evil-mindedness from my mind. ||5||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

I have tried every proper stage of life, and still my mind is not at peace.

I keep washing my body, but that alone does not bring understanding.

If only I could meet someone soaked in the love of the Highest One, who could wash the confusion and dust from my mind.

No outward stage can satisfy a mind that has not turned inward.
The deeper layer

A heart is filled by love, more than by doing every stage of life by the book.

Sagal asram keenay — I went through all four asram, the four traditional stages of life: student, householder, retreat, and letting go. Yet manoo-aa nah pateenay — my mind was still not satisfied. Washing the body is bibaykheen, without real understanding.

It is like following a recipe step by step, but leaving out the one ingredient that gives it taste.

So the plea is to meet someone raataa, dyed through and through in the love of the Highest One. Such a person could wash the confusion out of the mind.

A Question to Sit With

Have you ever done everything right and still felt something missing?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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