Verse 2 of 3
The Same Clay in Elephant and Ant
ਏਕਲ ਮਾਟੀ ਕੁੰਜਰ ਚੀਟੀ ਭਾਜਨ ਹੈਂ ਬਹੁ ਨਾਨਾ ਰੇ ॥
aykal maatee kunjar cheetee bhaajan haiN baho naanaa ray.
Out of the same clay, the elephant, the ant, and the many sorts of species are formed.
ਅਸਥਾਵਰ ਜੰਗਮ ਕੀਟ ਪਤੰਗਮ ਘਟਿ ਘਟਿ ਰਾਮੁ ਸਮਾਨਾ ਰੇ ॥੧॥
asthaavar jangam keet patangam ghat ghat raam samaanaa ray. ||1||
In stationary life forms, moving beings, worms, moths and within each and every heart, the Lord is contained. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The huge elephant and the tiny ant, and every creature in between, are shaped from the very same clay.
In what stands still and what moves, in the smallest crawling things, in every single heart — the One is held inside.
The greatest and the smallest are made of the same clay, holding the same One.
A radical oneness image: elephant and ant, the still and the moving, the tiniest life — all one maati (clay), all holding the One within. This is Namdev's version of the raag's deepest note: no hierarchy in creation, because the same One fills the greatest and the smallest alike. Quiet caste-leveling and reverence for all life.
A Question to Sit With
If everything is made of the same 'clay,' how should we treat the smallest creatures?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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