ਲਖ ਚਉਰਾਸੀਹ ਜੋਨਿ ਭ੍ਰਮਿ ਆਇਓ ॥
lakh cha-oraaseeh jon bharam aa-i-o.
After wandering through 8.4 million incarnations, you came.
ਅਬ ਕੇ ਛੁਟਕੇ ਠਉਰ ਨ ਠਾਇਓ ॥੩॥
ab kay chhutkay tha-ur na thaa-i-o. ||3||
If you stumble and fall now, you shall find no home or place of rest. ||3||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
After the longest journey imaginable, here you finally are — alive, awake, human.
This is a rare and precious chance. Don't let it slip by unnoticed; there is a home for you if you turn toward it.
This human life is a rare and precious chance — worth turning toward with your whole heart.
The literal names the "8.4 million incarnations" — the vast wheel of rebirth — and warns of finding "no place of rest." We keep the wonder of how rare and precious this human life is, and gently soften the warning into invitation: this is a chance worth taking. Kabir's urgency here is loving, not fear-based — the excited "you finally made it, don't waste it" of someone who wants the best for you.
A Question to Sit With
If today were a rare gift, how would you want to spend it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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