Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Little stork, how did you get caught in the net?
You do not keep the Unseen One in your heart.
Keeping the Unseen One in your heart is what keeps you out of the net.
This is the rahaa-o, the "pause" line, the center of the shabad.
The verse speaks to a stork. Storks and cranes stand very still and white by the water. They look calm and holy, but they are waiting to catch fish. So in Gurbani the white bird is a picture of looking good on the outside while the heart is somewhere else.
Too kaisay aarh faathee jaal: how did you get caught in the net? The answer: you did not keep the alakh, the Unseen One, in your heart.
We can hear it as a gentle question to ourselves. It is easy to look peaceful on the outside, like a perfect profile photo, while the heart drifts. Remembering the One is what keeps us free.
When have your outside and your inside not quite matched?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI