Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The foolish mind attaches itself to the dream.
When he wakes, he forgets the power and pleasures, and he is sad.
He spends his life chasing worldly affairs.
His works are never finished, because illusion has him.
What can the helpless creature do? The One itself has let him be deluded.
The dream resolves into its sad waking: "when he awakes, he forgets the power, pleasures and enjoyments, and he is sad." The whole life spent chasing dream-stuff ends in the grief of waking with empty hands, works unfinished. And the final line is remarkable and merciful: "the Lord Himself has deluded him." This is not blame heaped on the sleeper; it is the recognition that even the delusion unfolds within the One's play — which quietly removes the ground for contempt. The sleeper is not a villain but a "helpless creature" caught in a dream. The compassion is the point: we are gentle with the dreaming, because who among us has fully woken?
Instead of judging someone lost in chasing things, could you feel gentle toward them, like toward someone still asleep? Why might that be kinder and truer?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI