Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When pride fills the front of my mind, the One quietly slips to the back and gets forgotten.
I can look at my money and the people and things I love and imagine they will all stay just as they are forever — but nothing in this world holds still that way.
Pride makes us forget the One and believe that what we have will last forever.
This is the rahaa-o, the "pause" line. It is the center of the shabad. Raam bisaari-o hai abhimaan: in pride, you have forgotten the One. Abhimaan means pride. Pride pushes remembering out of the way.
The verse pictures a man gazing at his gold and his beautiful wife. Paykh paykh sach maan: looking again and again, he believes they will last forever. But money, loved ones and things all change and pass.
Think of a snowman in the yard. You can admire it every morning, but spring always comes. Mistaking what passes for what is truly lasting, sach, is the root mistake.
What is something you once thought would never change, that changed anyway?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI