Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
People bow to gods and goddesses, and wander about, yet they do not come to know the Highest One behind everything.
Kabir says: you have not remembered the One who has no ancestors, the Source who was always here. Instead you cling to what harms you and tangles you up.
Behind every form is the One who has no beginning and no family line, because everything comes from It.
At the close, Kabir names paarbarahm, the highest, formless One. Dayvee dayvaa poojeh doleh — people worship gods and goddesses and wander about, yet they do not come to know that One. Then he uses the word akul. It means "without a family line": the One who has no ancestors and needs none, because It is the Source of all.
That answers the ancestor theme the shabad opened with. The deepest family we belong to is the One everything comes from. It is like every river finding out it came from the same rain.
Bikhi-aa means poison: grabbing onto harmful things that pass away. Bikhi-aa si-o laptaanaa — clinging to that. The invitation is to let it go, gently, as a kind of healing.
What does it feel like to remember that everything and everyone comes from the same Source?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI