Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You can decorate yourself and take great care of your appearance, but one day that too is set down.
You can sit and play beautiful music and still keep your heart closed, only performing. When love has not actually entered, what does the performance bring you?
This one says: when love hasn't come into the heart, the show doesn't bring much.
Bhagat naardee ridai na aa-ee: loving devotion has not entered the heart. That is the center of this verse. A person can dress up the body with kaachh koochh, grooming and fine clothes. But one day the body is set down too.
A person can sit and play raag raagnee, beautiful music, all day long. Yet if it is only a performance, Kabir asks, what do you receive from the One?
Think of singing "Happy Birthday" while scrolling on your phone. The words are right, but the love isn't in them. Kabir's challenge is aimed at the pretending, never at any person. Music with love inside it is a different thing altogether.
Can you tell the difference in yourself between doing something for show and doing it because you mean it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI