ਚਤੁਰਾਈ ਨਹ ਚੀਨਿਆ ਜਾਇ ॥
chaturaa-ee nah cheeni-aa jaa-ay.
He cannot be known through clever tricks.
ਬਿਨੁ ਮਾਰੇ ਕਿਉ ਕੀਮਤਿ ਪਾਇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
bin maaray ki-o keemat paa-ay. ||1|| rahaa-o.
Without subduing the mind, how can His value be estimated? ||1||Pause||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The One cannot be figured out with clever tricks.
Without gently taming the restless mind, how could you ever come to know that worth?
Cleverness can't find the One; only a gently steadied mind can sense that worth.
The rahao — the hinge of the whole hymn. Chaturaaee nah cheeniaa jaa-ay — cleverness cannot recognize the One; the mind's tricks are exactly the wrong tool. Bin maaray literally "without killing," but the meaning is taming/subduing the restless mind — softened here to "gently taming," consistent with the elephant image and the wellbeing lens. Only a quieted mind can sense the keemat (worth) of the One.
A Question to Sit With
Have you ever tried to force an answer with cleverness, when what you really needed was to get quiet first?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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