Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
I was given this human body. It is so rare, so hard to come by. And it is easy to let its days slip past unused.
The tangle of Maya can feel like a beautiful forest with no paths. Somehow it's that very tangle we grow fond of and want to stay lost in.
This one says this rare human life can slip by while we grow fond of a tangle.
Durlabh dayh paa-ay maanas kee — this human body is durlabh, very hard to get. That priceless-life theme comes up again and again in these hymns. Birthaa janam siraavai — and yet the life is being spent for nothing.
Maa-i-aa moh mahaa sankat ban — moh, clinging, to Maya is a dangerous wild forest. Maya is the bright, busy pull of the world. The forest is so lovely you forget you are lost. Taa si-o ruch upjaavai — and people grow fond of it.
This is not saying the world is a trap set to punish you. It is saying we can grow attached to our own confusion. Think of scrolling late at night. You know you are lost in it, yet it feels cozy to stay. The verse shows how clinging works, so we can see it and loosen it.
Have you ever stayed stuck in something because being lost in it had started to feel comfortable?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI