Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
All the busy work of the world adds up to little if the One never comes to mind.
A life that forgets its own Source grows brittle and comes apart.
Dhandhrhay kulaah — "worldly affairs are kulaah, unprofitable" — chit na aavai hekrho, "if the One does not come to mind." It isn't that work is bad; it's that busyness without an inner center runs at a loss, spinning effort into nothing. The second line's original — tann futann, "bodies burst apart" — is a hard, cracking image; kept here only as its gentle sense: a life that forgets its Source grows brittle, loses its inner cohesion, "comes apart." Not a threatened punishment but a natural drying-out — like a branch cut off from the tree that slowly loses its green. The remedy is implied by the ache: keep the One in mind, and the life stays whole and supple.
When your days get really busy, what helps you stay centered instead of just running around?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI