Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
What kind of love is this between body and soul, that ends the moment the body falls?
Why feed it with lies, when it won't go with you? The body is just blind dust — go, ask the soul. And the soul answers: 'The glitter has enticed me, so I keep coming and going.' Nanak says: I do not yet know the One's Command, by which I would merge in truth.
This striking Shalok stages a little dialogue. The body is "blind dust" that won't accompany us; asked why it wanders, the soul confesses, "I am enticed by Maya, and so I come and go." It is an honest self-examination — the soul admitting its own entanglement rather than blaming fate. And it ends in humility: "I do not know my Master's Command" — the honest starting point of one who wants to learn.
Can you honestly name a way you've let yourself be 'enticed,' without blaming anyone else?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI