ਤਨਨਾ ਬੁਨਨਾ ਸਭੁ ਤਜਿਓ ਹੈ ਕਬੀਰ ॥
tannaa bunnaa sabh taji-o hai kabeer.
Kabir has given up all his spinning and weaving,
ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਨਾਮੁ ਲਿਖਿ ਲੀਓ ਸਰੀਰ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
har kaa naam likh lee-o sareer. ||1|| rahaa-o.
and written the Name of the Lord on his body. ||1||Pause||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Kabir has set down the spinning and the weaving,
and written the One's Name on his very body.
Sometimes a life gets rewoven around one thing — the Name inscribed on the self, more constant than any trade.
The Pause line states the choice starkly: Kabir has "given up all his spinning and weaving" and "written the Name of the Lord on his body" — devotion inscribed on his very self, more constant than any trade. This is not irresponsibility but a radical reordering of priorities. The Name has become the thing his life is woven from, more than the cloth. What he does is now less important than Whom he remembers.
A Question to Sit With
What is your life 'woven from' at its core? Is it what you'd want it to be?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
Use ← → to navigate