Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When your little boat springs too many leaks, you can't just plug them all with your hands.
So turn to the One the boat really belongs to — the One who brings even the cracked and the counterfeit safely across.
This one is about a boat with too many leaks. It's a picture of a life with more problems than you can fix yourself.
Anik chhidar bohith kay — the boat has many holes. Chhutkat thaam na jaahee karay — you can't plug them with your hands. We've all felt this. You fix one thing, and three more go wrong. Like patching a bike tire while the other one goes flat.
Guru Arjan's move is to stop the frantic fixing and start trusting. Jis kaa bohith tis aaraaDhay — turn to the One the boat belongs to. The boat isn't finally yours to save.
Then comes the mercy at the heart of the shabad. Khotay sang kharay — the fake is carried along with the real. Khotay means a fake coin. Kharay means a true one. You don't first have to make yourself good enough to qualify. The cracked and the fake are carried across too.
Have you ever felt like problems were springing up faster than you could fix them? What would 'letting the boat be carried' feel like?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI