ਏਕਾ ਮਾਟੀ ਏਕਾ ਜੋਤਿ ॥
aykaa maatee aykaa jot.
There is the one dust, the one light,
ਏਕੋ ਪਵਨੁ ਕਹਾ ਕਉਨੁ ਰੋਤਿ ॥੨॥
ayko pavan kahaa ka-un rot. ||2||
the one praanic wind. Why are you crying? For whom do you cry? ||2||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
We are all made of the same earth, lit by the same light, breathing the same one breath. When you see that, the sharp edges of grief soften -- for whom, really, is anyone ever fully separate?
One earth, one light, one breath -- underneath, nothing is ever wholly separate.
Aykaa maatee, aykaa jot, ayko pavan -- one dust, one light, one breath. This is the shabad's heart: the deep oneness of all beings. The original ends 'why do you cry, for whom?' -- not to forbid grief, but to loosen the illusion of total separation. Read as pastoral reflection: if we are all one light, then no one we love is ever wholly gone from the whole.
A Question to Sit With
How does it feel to remember that you and everyone you love are made of the same light?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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