ਕਹੁ ਕਬੀਰ ਇਕ ਬੇਨਤੀ ਬੈਰਾਗੀਅੜੇ ॥
kaho kabeer ik bayntee bairaagee-arhay.
Says Kabir, I offer this one prayer, O renunciate.
ਮੋ ਕਉ ਭਉਜਲੁ ਪਾਰਿ ਉਤਾਰਿ ਵਣਾਹੰਬੈ ॥੮॥੧॥੮॥
mo ka-o bha-ojal paar utaar vanaahambai. ||8||1||8||
Carry me across the terrifying world-ocean. ||8||1||8||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Kabir says: I have one prayer, O seeker.
Carry me across the frightening sea of the world.
Sometimes the truest prayer is one simple, open-handed request.
Ik bayntee means one simple request, offered humbly.
Mo ka-o bha-ojal paar utaar: carry me across the bha-ojal. Bha-ojal means the world, pictured as a wide and scary ocean. Kabir asks to be carried across it and brought safely home. It is like a small child reaching up to be carried over a busy street.
The whole song ends not in struggle but in trust.
A Question to Sit With
If you could ask for just one thing to help you, what would it be?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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