ਅਨਿਕ ਕਰਮ ਕੀਏ ਬਹੁਤੇਰੇ ॥ ਜੋ ਕੀਜੈ ਸੋ ਬੰਧਨੁ ਪੈਰੇ ॥
anik karam kee-ay bahutayray. jo keejai so banDhan pairay.
You can do anything, but whatever you do, only serves to tie your feet.
ਕੁਰੁਤਾ ਬੀਜੁ ਬੀਜੇ ਨਹੀ ਜੰਮੈ ਸਭੁ ਲਾਹਾ ਮੂਲੁ ਗਵਾਇਦਾ ॥੫॥
kurutaa beej beejay nahee jammai sabh laahaa mool gavaa-idaa. ||5||
The seed which is planted out of season does not sprout, and all one's capital and profits are lost. ||5||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
I can do many, many things, but whatever I do only ties up my feet.
A seed planted out of season does not sprout, and everything I put in is lost.
Deeds done from ego tie you up, like seed sown out of season that never sprouts.
Anik karam — countless deeds — become bandhan, ties around the feet, when done from ego rather than love. The farming image is precise: kurutaa beej is seed sown out of season; it never sprouts, and even the capital is lost. The trouble is action rooted in the separate, grasping self. Action from love, in tune with the flow, takes root.
A Question to Sit With
Have you ever done something for the wrong reason and felt it tangle you up?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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