Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
He is awake, even cheerful, and yet he is being robbed, and he is blind to it.
A trap is closing around his neck, and still his head is busy with worldly chores.
He comes full of hope, and he leaves full of wanting.
The threads of his life are all tangled up, and he can do nothing about it.
You can be awake on the outside and asleep on the inside.
jaagat bigsai mootho anDhaa — he is awake, even happy, yet he is being robbed, and he is blind to it. The next line, gal faahee sir maaray DhanDhaa, pictures a trap closing around him while his head is busy with chores. He is quietly losing what matters most, and he is too busy to notice.
aasaa aavai mansaa jaa-ay — he comes full of hope and leaves still full of wants. urjhee taanee kichh na basaa-ay — the threads of his life get so tangled that he feels stuck.
Think of scrolling on a phone for hours. Your eyes are open. You feel busy and even happy. But the afternoon is gone, and the things you meant to do never happened. Guru Nanak is asking us to wake up on the inside.
What does it mean to be awake on the inside, not just the outside?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI