This human life is a rare gift, too precious to sleep through: wake up and remember.
The Arc
You fill your stomach, you scroll, you sleep, and you do it again tomorrow. Days can go by like that. You can forget the one thing that matters most. Think of the restless crow, always hunting for the next scrap. Think of opening the fridge again and again when you are not even hungry. Maybe you skip the Sangat because you are busy. Maybe you puff yourself up and make someone else feel small. Maybe gossip eats the afternoon. And the One gets left out. This human life is a rare gift, and the visit here is short. The Naam is the boat across. Learn it while you are here. At the centre, the Rahao: you have forgotten your faith and are sleeping through this human life.
Key Vocabulary
Deen bisaari-o 'you've forgotten what matters most' — deen (faith, sacred duty) rendered inclusively (refrain)
Saadhsangat the Sangat — people gathered together to remember the One; here the thing missed (Pauri 1)
Deeragh... lag maat thinking yourself great and others small — haumai, the core disease (Pauri 2)
Nindaa tearing others down, which leaves no room for remembrance (Pauri 3)
Utras paar carried across; the Name as the boat, offered to anyone (Pauri 4)
Themes and Cross-Connections
The preciousness of human life; ego (haumai) as the wall that shuts out light; and remembrance and the Sangat as the way home. Kabir's bluntness carries urgency: wake up while there is time.
For Raag Maaroo
Maaroo's shortness-of-life theme becomes, in Kabir's hands, an alarm clock: the visit is brief, so wake and remember while the boat is still here.
Translation Notes
Deen is a word shared with Islam. It means faith, or sacred duty: the one thing that matters most.
Hukumnama
Subject: This human life is too precious to waste Preview: a full belly and a long sleep, a dog, a pig and a crow, a wall of pride and a boat across the water.
Today: You fill your stomach, you scroll, you sleep, and you do it again tomorrow. Days can go by like that. You can forget the one thing that matters most. Think of the restless crow, always hunting for the next scrap. Think of opening the fridge again and again when you are not even hungry. Maybe you skip the Sangat because you are busy. Maybe you puff yourself up and make someone else feel small. Maybe gossip eats the afternoon. And the One gets left out. This human life is a rare gift, and the visit here is short. The Naam is the boat across. Learn it while you are here.
This human life is too precious to sleep through.
For today: Put your phone away for ten minutes today and spend them remembering the One.
This human life is a rare gift, too precious to sleep through: wake up and remember.
The Arc
You fill your stomach, you scroll, you sleep, and you do it again tomorrow. Days can go by like that. You can forget the one thing that matters most. Think of the restless crow, always hunting for the next scrap. Think of opening the fridge again and again when you are not even hungry. Maybe you skip the Sangat because you are busy. Maybe you puff yourself up and make someone else feel small. Maybe gossip eats the afternoon. And the One gets left out. This human life is a rare gift, and the visit here is short. The Naam is the boat across. Learn it while you are here. At the centre, the Rahao: you have forgotten your faith and are sleeping through this human life.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The preciousness of human life; ego (haumai) as the wall that shuts out light; and remembrance and the Sangat as the way home. Kabir's bluntness carries urgency: wake up while there is time.
For Raag Maaroo
Maaroo's shortness-of-life theme becomes, in Kabir's hands, an alarm clock: the visit is brief, so wake and remember while the boat is still here.
Translation Notes
Hukumnama
Subject: This human life is too precious to waste Preview: a full belly and a long sleep, a dog, a pig and a crow, a wall of pride and a boat across the water.
Today: You fill your stomach, you scroll, you sleep, and you do it again tomorrow. Days can go by like that. You can forget the one thing that matters most. Think of the restless crow, always hunting for the next scrap. Think of opening the fridge again and again when you are not even hungry. Maybe you skip the Sangat because you are busy. Maybe you puff yourself up and make someone else feel small. Maybe gossip eats the afternoon. And the One gets left out. This human life is a rare gift, and the visit here is short. The Naam is the boat across. Learn it while you are here.
This human life is too precious to sleep through.
For today: Put your phone away for ten minutes today and spend them remembering the One.