ਮਾਰੂ ਮਹਲਾ ੧ ॥
maaroo mehlaa 1.
Maaroo, First Mehl:
ਬਿਮਲ ਮਝਾਰਿ ਬਸਸਿ ਨਿਰਮਲ ਜਲ ਪਦਮਨਿ ਜਾਵਲ ਰੇ ॥
bimal majhaar basas nirmal jal padman jaaval ray.
In the pure, immaculate waters, both the lotus and the slimy scum are found.
ਪਦਮਨਿ ਜਾਵਲ ਜਲ ਰਸ ਸੰਗਤਿ ਸੰਗਿ ਦੋਖ ਨਹੀ ਰੇ ॥੧॥
padman jaaval jal ras sangat sang dokh nahee ray. ||1||
The lotus flower is with the scum and the water, but it remains untouched by any pollution. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In the very same pond you can find a beautiful lotus and thick green slime.
They live in the same water, touched by the same mud.
Yet the lotus stays clean and bright, unstained, rising right out of it all.
You can stay clear and kind right in the middle of a messy world.
The lotus is Gurbani's picture of the jeevan-mukt, free while fully alive. You do not have to leave the world (the pond) to stay unstained; you live right in the middle of it, like the lotus, rooted in mud yet clean above it. Purity is an inner state, not a retreat.
A Question to Sit With
How can you stay clean like the lotus even when things around you get muddy?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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