Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In this strange, tangled forest of the world, there's chaos and confusion, and cries rise from the roads.
But I am in love with You, Beloved; Nanak says, I cross the jungle joyfully.
A vivid Shalok: the world as a "wondrous forest" full of "chaos and confusion," with "shrieks... from the highways" — a frank picture of how frightening and disordered life can be. And yet: "I cross the jungle joyfully," because "I am in love with You." Love does not remove the jungle; it changes how you move through it. The same frightening forest is crossed with dread or with joy, depending on what you carry in your heart.
What lets you move through a chaotic stretch with something more like joy than dread?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI