How Do We Get Trapped?

ਕਿਉ ਕਰਿ ਬਾਧਾ ਸਰਪਨਿ ਖਾਧਾ ॥

ki-o kar baaDhaa sarpan khaaDhaa.

"How is one placed in bondage, and consumed by the serpent of Maya?

ਕਿਉ ਕਰਿ ਖੋਇਆ ਕਿਉ ਕਰਿ ਲਾਧਾ ॥

ki-o kar kho-i-aa ki-o kar laaDhaa.

How does one lose, and how does one gain?

ਕਿਉ ਕਰਿ ਨਿਰਮਲੁ ਕਿਉ ਕਰਿ ਅੰਧਿਆਰਾ ॥

ki-o kar nirmal ki-o kar anDhi-aaraa.

How does one become immaculate and pure? How is the darkness of ignorance removed?

ਇਹੁ ਤਤੁ ਬੀਚਾਰੈ ਸੁ ਗੁਰੂ ਹਮਾਰਾ ॥੧੪॥

ih tat beechaarai so guroo hamaaraa. ||14||

One who understands this essence of reality is our Guru."||14||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

How does a person get tied up, and swallowed by the serpent of Maya, the pull of wanting more?

How do we lose, and how do we gain?

How does a person become clean and clear? How does the darkness of not-knowing lift?

Whoever understands this, we will call our Guru.

It is brave to ask how we get stuck; that is the first step out.

The deeper layer

The yogis ask the big questions: how do we get stuck, and how do we get free?

They ask how a person gets tied up and swallowed by sarpan, a serpent. The serpent means Maya, the pull of wanting more and more. It is like a game you meant to play for five minutes that swallows your whole afternoon.

They ask how we lose our way and how we find it. They ask how the heart gets clear, and how the fog lifts.

The yogis are open-hearted here. Ih tat beechaarai so guroo hamaaraa means "whoever understands this is our Guru." They will honor anyone who knows, whatever path that person comes from.

A Question to Sit With

What habit tangles you up most often?

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

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