ਬਨਹਿ ਬਸੇ ਕਿਉ ਪਾਈਐ ਜਉ ਲਉ ਮਨਹੁ ਨ ਤਜਹਿ ਬਿਕਾਰ ॥
baneh basay ki-o paa-ee-ai ja-o la-o manhu na tajeh bikaar.
Living in the forest, how will you find Him? Not until you remove corruption from your mind.
ਜਿਹ ਘਰੁ ਬਨੁ ਸਮਸਰਿ ਕੀਆ ਤੇ ਪੂਰੇ ਸੰਸਾਰ ॥੧॥
jih ghar ban samsar kee-aa tay pooray sansaar. ||1||
Those who look alike upon home and forest, are the most perfect people in the world. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Living off in a forest, how will you find the One, while your mind still holds on to what is wrong?
The ones who see a busy home and a quiet forest as the same are the most complete people in the world.
Peace is something you settle inside, wherever you are.
'Baneh basay ki-o paa-ee-ai' questions the idea that leaving the world for the forest earns you closeness to the One. The marker is inner freedom: those who see 'ghar' (home) and 'ban' (forest) as the same have stopped locating peace in a place. This is Kabir's householder spirituality — freedom is portable.
A Question to Sit With
Where do you go when you want to feel calm, and does the calm ever come home with you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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