Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When I forget the One, my days can slip by without ever touching what matters most.
If I chase only shiny things and leave the One out, even my nicest clothes and finest food can feel strangely empty.
Wealth, being young, having lots of stuff, easy comforts — these are lovely, but none of them can stay with me forever.
It is easy to get fooled, like a thirsty traveler running toward water that turns out to be only shimmering heat, or resting in shade that moves on as the sun shifts. So I hold the One, who does not pass away.
Har bin janam akaarath — without the One, life can pass without fruit. The pauri is a meditation on sach versus jhooth: wealth, youth, and comforts are real and even lovely, but impermanent, and mistaking them for the whole of life leaves one empty. The two images are marig trisnaa, the deer chasing a mirage, and drum chhaa-i-aa, the moving shade of a tree — both classic pictures of things that look solid and then slip away. The baavar (one who is fooled) is rendered gently, as anyone can be fooled, not as a condemned fool.
What is something you once really wanted that turned out not to matter as much as you thought?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI