The Gifts Are a Passing Show; Don't Let Clinging Carry You
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Wealth, youth, family, all the good things given to you — they are wonderful, and they are meant to be enjoyed, like a beautiful passing show.
But if we cling to them as if they were everything, the pull of wanting can carry us right off our feet.
The good things in life are gifts to enjoy, but clinging to them can carry us away.
I-aa dhan joban ar sut daaraa paykhan ka-o jo da-i-o — this wealth, youth, children and spouse are given to you to look upon, like a passing show. They are gifts, and Kabir is not against them.
The danger is atak, getting stuck. Tin hee maahi atak jo urjhay indree parayr la-i-o — those who get caught and tangled in them are swept off by indree, the pull of the senses. The mistake is treating the gift as if it were the Giver. Think of loving a birthday present so much that you forget the friend who gave it.
The teaching is to hold things loosely. It is the same sumat, the steady mind, praised in the shabad just before this one. And this shabad's own answer is love, good company, and shelter with the True Teacher.
How can you love something without needing to grip it too tightly?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI