Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
For a little shell, a person gives up a jewel.
They work hard for the very things they must leave behind.
They store up what is worthless.
Charmed by Maya — the pull of money and things — they take the crooked path.
Sometimes we give away something precious to get something worth very little.
Ka-udee badlai ti-aagai ratan — trading a jewel for a shell. A ka-udee is a small seashell once used as the tiniest coin. This bad trade is the picture behind the whole shabad.
It is like swapping a friend's trust for one extra hour of a game. Maa-i-aa is the pull of getting and having. Pulled along by it, a person drifts onto a crooked path. That is not a verdict on anyone. It shows how easily any of us can wander off the straight way.
What is something valuable that people sometimes trade away too cheaply?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI