Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O my One, I know nothing.
My mind has been sold off, and it is in illusion's hands.
This part is a very honest start: "I know nothing, and my mind has been sold off."
Raag Jaitsree closes with a song by Bhagat Ravi Daas. A Bhagat is a devotee-saint. Ravi Daas was a shoemaker in the city of Varanasi. The society of his day looked down on him because of the family he was born into. Guru Arjan placed his words beside the Gurus' own in the Guru Granth Sahib.
His voice here is surprisingly honest. Naath kachhoo-a na jaan-o — O my Master, I know nothing. Man maa-i-aa kai haath bikaana-o — my mind is sold into the hands of maa-i-aa (Maya, the shiny world that passes). He feels his own mind isn't even his anymore. It has been handed over, like a phone that someone else controls.
This is the "Pause" line (rahaa-o), the center of the song. There is no pretending to be holy. Ravi Daas begins right where honesty begins. He admits how far the mind has slipped, and how little he can claim.
Is there a strange freedom in admitting, 'I don't have this figured out; I've lost my grip'? What might that honesty open up?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI