Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You have forgotten your faith, you foolish one; you have forgotten your faith.
You fill your belly and sleep like an animal, and you have thrown away this human life.
Forgetting what matters most, a person can sleep straight through a whole human life.
This is the "pause" line, the rahao. It is the center of the shabad.
Deen bisaari-o ray divaanay — you have forgotten your deen, you who have lost your way. Deen is a word also used in Islam. It means faith, or sacred duty. Here it means the one thing that matters most, the thread that ties you to the One.
Payt bhari-o pasoo-aa ji-o so-i-o — you fill your belly and sleep, like an animal. The danger is not being wicked. It is sleepwalking. Think of sleeping through your own birthday party. Nothing bad happened, but you missed the best part.
Manukh janam hai haari-o — this human life is lost. Human life is a rare gift, far too rare to sleep straight through.
What is one thing that matters most to you that you don't want to forget?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI