Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A drum with no skin stretched across it is somehow playing music.
Thunder rolls though it is not the rainy season. Rain pours down though there is not a single cloud in the sky. All of this is what you begin to see when you look quietly into the heart of reality.
Namdev describes a joy that comes from inside and needs nothing from outside.
He uses riddle pictures that sound impossible. This is called ulat baasee, upside-down riddle language. Anmarhi-aa mandal baajai — a drum with no skin is playing. Bin saavan ghanhar gaajai — thunder rolls outside saavan, the rainy season. Baadal bin barkhaa ho-ee — rain falls with no clouds.
How can that be? The last line gives the key: ja-o tat bichaarai ko-ee — when someone looks quietly into tat, the heart of what is real. The music and the rain are inside. They are the joy that rises within a person, whatever the weather outside.
Think of a moment when you felt happy for no clear reason, maybe on an ordinary walk home. Nothing special happened. The happiness came from within. Namdev says that inner music is always there, waiting to be heard.
Have you ever felt happy for no outside reason, just a quiet gladness within?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI