Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
How easy it is to forget the One who loves us and chase after a hundred smaller things.
It is like trading a priceless jewel for a shell picked up off the ground.
This is the center of the shabad: do not trade something priceless for something worthless.
This line is the Rahao, the "pause" line, the center the whole shabad turns around. Its picture is a famous one. Ka-udee badlay ratan ti-aageh — giving up a ratan, a jewel, for a ka-udee, a tiny shell worth almost nothing.
Khasam here means the beloved One, pictured as the husband of the soul-bride. Forgetting the One and grabbing at smaller things is the ache of the whole shabad.
Picture swapping a real diamond for a sticker because the sticker is shiny. The verse says it sharply. It works as a call to wake up, not a reason to feel ashamed.
Have you ever given up something truly good for something that only looked good?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI