Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Kabir says: I've seen such a strange and wonderful thing! People churn and churn away at plain water, sure they'll get butter from it. They work so hard at the wrong thing, mistaking the empty for the rich.
Kabir sees people working very hard at something that can never pay off.
This shabad is an ulat-baasee, an upside-down riddle. Kabir uses strange, backwards pictures that hide a plain lesson. Its heading says these are Kabir's words, set down together with writing by the Fifth Guru.
This first line is the Rahao, the "pause" line at the center of the shabad. Aiso achraj daykhi-o kabeer — Kabir has seen such a wonder! DaDh kai bholai birolai neer — thinking it is cream, people churn water.
People used to churn cream for a long time to make butter. Churning water gets you nothing, however hard you work. It is like studying all night from the wrong textbook. Kabir means effort poured into empty, outside things. They can never truly feed us.
Once you see it, you can't unsee it. The wonder is real, and the lesson under it is simple.
What is something people work really hard at that can never actually give them what they're hoping for?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI