Salok Mehlaa 9, Salok 47 — and still the sweetness untasted

ਸਿਰੁ ਕੰਪਿਓ ਪਗ ਡਗਮਗੇ ਨੈਨ ਜੋਤਿ ਤੇ ਹੀਨ ॥

sir kampi-o pag dagmagay nain jot tay heen.

The head shakes, the feet stagger, and the eyes become dull and weak.

ਕਹੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਇਹ ਬਿਧਿ ਭਈ ਤਊ ਨ ਹਰਿ ਰਸਿ ਲੀਨ ॥੪੭॥

kaho naanak ih biDh bha-ee ta-oo na har ras leen. ||47||

Says Nanak, this is your condition. And even now, you have not savored the sublime essence of the Lord. ||47||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

The head shakes, the feet wobble, and the light goes out of the eyes.

Nanak says: this is what has become of you, and still you have not tasted the sweet joy of the One.

Taste the sweetness of the One now, without waiting for old age.

The deeper layer

Old age comes, and a person may still not have tasted the sweetness of the One.

sir kampi-o pag dagmagay — the head shakes and the feet wobble. nain jot tay heen — the eyes lose their light. This is a picture of growing very old. Old age is natural, like fruit ripening on a tree.

Ta-oo na har ras leen: even so, you have not tasted har ras, the sweet juice of the One. The words are a wake-up call: the sweetness is waiting, so why wait to taste it?

A Question to Sit With

Is there something good you keep telling yourself you will do someday? Could someday be now?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

← Verse 46 of 57 Salok Mehlaa 9, Salok 46 — clean outside, but inside?

Verse 48 of 57 →Salok Mehlaa 9, Salok 48 — only devotion to the One stays

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