ਹਰਿ ਭਇਓ ਖਾਂਡੁ ਰੇਤੁ ਮਹਿ ਬਿਖਰਿਓ ਹਸਤੀ ਚੁਨਿਓ ਨ ਜਾਈ ॥
har bha-i-o khaaNd rayt meh bikhri-o hasteeN chuni-o na jaa-ee.
The Lord is like sugar, spilled onto the sand; the elephant cannot pick it up.
ਕਹਿ ਕਮੀਰ ਕੁਲ ਜਾਤਿ ਪਾਂਤਿ ਤਜਿ ਚੀਟੀ ਹੋਇ ਚੁਨਿ ਖਾਈ ॥੨॥੩॥੧੨॥
kahi kameer kul jaat paaNt taj cheetee ho-ay chun khaa-ee. ||2||3||12||
Says Kabir, give up your ancestry, social status and honor; be like the tiny ant - pick up and eat the sugar. ||2||3||12||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The One is like sugar spilled in the sand; a big elephant cannot pick it up.
Kabir says: set down your pride in family, caste and rank. Become a tiny ant, and pick up the sugar and eat it.
Pride is too big to pick up the finest sweetness — humility gathers what pride cannot reach.
One of Kabir's most loved images. The divine sweetness is everywhere, like sugar scattered in sand — but the proud 'elephant' (the big ego, and the pride of caste and status) cannot pick it up. Drop the pride of birth and rank (kul jaat paant taj), become small like the ant, and you will taste what pride could never reach. Humility is exactly the quality that gathers the sweetness.
A Question to Sit With
Why do you think staying humble lets you notice good things that pride would miss?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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