Beautiful, Clever, Wise, and Still Missing the One Thing
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
They may be lovely, clever, wise, learned, and sweet-spoken —
A person can be good-looking, smart, wise and sweet-spoken, and still be missing the one thing that matters.
At sundar — very beautiful. Baho chatur si-aanay — very clever and wise. Bidi-aa — well-educated. Rasnaa chaar — with a sweet tongue, speaking nicely.
The verse piles up all these great qualities and then stops, halfway through a thought. It does this on purpose, to show that none of them is the point. Think of a car with shiny paint, soft seats and a great sound system, but no engine. It has everything except the thing that makes it go.
This list sets up what comes next. After all these gifts, the next verse says the real path is something else.
Which admirable qualities might you be counting on that still aren't the 'one thing'?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI