Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When we turn away from the One, we end up wandering, confused and tired.
It is like churning plain water and waiting for butter — a great deal of effort that never quite yields what we hoped.
When we turn away from the One, we work very hard and get nothing, like churning water to make butter.
This is the rahaa-o, the "pause" line, the center of this shabad. Bharmay bhoolaa saakat firtaa — the saakat wanders around, lost in doubt. A saakat is someone who has turned away from the One.
Neer birolai — they churn neer, plain water. In old Indian kitchens, people churned milk for a long time to make butter. Churning water gives nothing, however hard you try. It is a favorite picture in the Guru Granth Sahib for effort spent in the wrong place.
Think of looking for your lost ball in the kitchen when you left it in the park. The wasted effort is not a punishment. It is just what happens when we look for the real thing in the wrong place.
Have you ever worked really hard at something that was never going to work? What did you learn?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI