Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The birds in the beautiful trees fly around in all four directions.
The more they fly around, the more they suffer. They burn and cry out in pain.
Without the Guru, they do not find the Mansion of the Lord's Presence — and they do not obtain the Ambrosial Fruit.
Sohalai dar-akht vich pakkhioo, sab chaaron dis jaavai — the birds in the beautiful trees fly in all four directions. Sab chaaron dis (all four directions) — the complete range, no direction left out. These birds are the opposite of the soul-bird of Pauri 0: where she pecked Truth and found home, these birds fly everywhere looking for what they cannot find outside.
Ji-o ji-o udreh ti-o dukh pavai, jan-dai balhurh paavai — the more they fly, the more suffering (dukh) they accumulate; they burn while alive and cry out in pain. The activity of flying — the constant seeking, the manmukh's restless movement in all directions — produces more pain rather than relief. This is the basic diagnosis: the search conducted outside (in all four directions) is the wrong kind of search. The object of the search is not in any of those directions.
Bin gur har mahal na paa-ee-ai, amrit fal na khaavai — without the Guru, they do not find the Mansion (mahal) of the Lord's Presence, and they do not eat the Ambrosial Fruit (amrit fal). The Ambrosial Fruit is in the tree — it has been there all along. But without the Guru's orientation, the bird flies past it in every direction and never pecks what is right there.
What are you searching for outside yourself that might actually be waiting for you within — and what would it take to stop flying and look?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI