Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Even the great gods of the old stories, Indra, Shiva and Brahma, were tripped up by these same passions.
The mightiest among them were shamed and undone when craving and pride took hold.
This part says that even the greatest in the old stories were tripped up by these same faults.
Gotam naar umaapat savaamee — the verse points to well-known stories from the Puranas, old Hindu storybooks. They are about Gautam's wife, the god Indra, Shiva (umaapat, Umaa's husband) and Brahma. In those tales, even the gods were brought low by craving and pride. The details aren't needed to get the point.
And the point is a humbling comfort. If even the mighty ones of the old stories were tripped up by these same faults, then the faults are not some special badness in Ravi Daas alone. Everyone struggles with them. Think of how even star athletes miss easy shots. It doesn't mean you shouldn't practice. It means missing is part of being a player.
This isn't an excuse. It is perspective. These faults have humbled the greatest, so of course they press on an ordinary person. And seeing that pushes him, in the next verse, toward the one safe shelter.
Does it help to know that even the greatest figures struggled with the same things you do? How is that different from using it as an excuse?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI