Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You may possess empires and vast estates, and authority over others. You may enjoy countless pleasures.
You may have beautiful gardens and issue unquestioned commands. Entertainments of every kind.
You may continue to enjoy one exciting pleasure after another.
And yet — if you do not come to remember the Supreme Lord God — you shall be reincarnated as a snake.
This one says that even with power and every pleasure, a life that forgets the One falls low.
Now come the good-times verses. The hard-time verses said, "Even at the worst, the One saves." These verses say, "Even at the best, without the One you fall." This one is about power and pleasure. Raaj milak sikdaaree-aa: kingdoms, lands, and being boss over others. Lovely gardens, hukam afaar, orders nobody questions, and every kind of fun. This is the top of worldly success.
Taa sarap kee joon ga-i-aa: then you are born again as a snake. Why a snake? A snake has power, since its bite can be deadly. Yet it spends its whole life low on the ground, never standing tall. It is like a great empire on the outside and a crawling life on the inside.
Chit na aa-i-o paarbarahm: "the One did not come to mind." That is all. It is not an angry turning away. It is just forgetting. The king in the palace, busy with power and fun, simply never thinks to turn toward the One. Think of a day so full of games and shows that you forget to call your grandmother. Forgetting the One is often not rebellion. It is being distracted by a busy, shiny life.
What powerful or pleasurable things in your life most easily distract you from what actually matters? What tends to make you forget?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI