Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When I decide this body is just "mine," I cling to it. Again and again, I hold on tight.
I get tangled up in "my children, my family, my household." Then I lose sight of something larger. I forget I could belong to the One.
This one says that when we treat everything as "mine," we miss belonging to something bigger.
paraanee jaanai ih tan mayraa — a person thinks, "this body is mine." Then they cling to it again and again. Next comes putar kaltar girsat kaa faasaa, a net made of children, spouse and home. A faasaa is a snare, a loop that catches.
The result is hon na paa-ee-ai raam kay daasaa — the person cannot become the One's own. Daas means servant. Here it means belonging to the One, in a close and loving way.
Think of holding a pencil so tightly that your hand cramps. You cannot write. The pencil is not the problem. The grip is.
The point is not that family is bad. The point is that we mistake what is passing for our whole self. That keeps us small.
What do you call "mine" that you're actually only holding for a while?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI