Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
And if simply giving up ordinary desires were enough to carry you across, well — think of all those who have never had those desires at all. Would they automatically be the wisest? The path is not about the outer rule you follow. It is about turning inward.
Following an outer rule, by itself, does not carry you across. The real turning happens inside.
Bind raakh means staying unmarried and giving up the desires that come with it. Some seekers believed that alone would carry them across to param gat, the highest state.
Kabir tests the idea with a blunt comparison. He points to people who never have those desires at all. If holding back were the whole thing, he asks, would they not be the first to arrive? His target is not any group of people. It is the idea that an outer condition can stand in for waking up inside.
Think of a student who never breaks a single school rule but never learns anything. The rule was meant to help the learning, not replace it. The highest state is inside, and it is open to anyone.
Is it possible to follow all the rules perfectly and still miss the point of why they exist?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI