Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
People fill their days chasing pleasant comforts — the sweet-smelling, the soft, the delightful — and there's nothing wrong with enjoying them.
But if that's all we chase, we can forget the far deeper joy underneath. It is the quiet, boundless happiness of the One.
Nice things are fine to enjoy, but if we chase only them, we can miss a much deeper joy.
I-aa dayhee parmal mahkandaa — people rub their bodies with sweet-smelling oils. Taa sukh bisray parmaanandaa — and in that pleasure they forget parmaanand. Parmaanand means the highest joy, the deep, steady happiness of the One.
Kabir is not telling us to give up enjoying things. A warm bath and a nice smell are lovely. His point is about what fills up our attention. Surface pleasures, chased all by themselves, can crowd out the bigger happiness waiting underneath.
Think of eating chips right before dinner. The chips are tasty, but now you have no room for the real meal. The deeper joy is sometimes called sahaj, a calm, easy happiness that doesn't come and go.
What is a quiet, deep kind of happiness that lasts longer than a quick, fun treat?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI