Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
This world is like a dream. People sleep through their nights of life.
By His own Will, He lifts some out and brings them close to Himself.
He Himself lives in the mind and drives out the clinging to Maya.
He Himself gives greatness. He helps the Gurmukh understand.
This verse says that many people go through life half-asleep, and the One gently wakes some of them up.
Sansaa ih sansaar hai — this world is like a dream. That does not mean the world is fake. It means it is not what it seems. It looks like it will last forever, and it looks like it can give us everything we need. It can't. Suti-aa rain vihaa-ay — and so people sleep through the nights of their lives.
Think of dozing off in the back of the car on a long trip. You miss the mountains, the lake and the sunset. You were there the whole time, but you didn't really see it.
Ik aapnai bhaanai kadh la-i-an — by His own Will, the One lifts some out and brings them close. Waking up is not a prize we win. It happens when grace touches a sleeping mind. Aapay hee aap man vasi-aa maa-i-aa moh chukaa-ay — the One comes to live in the mind and clears away the clinging to Maya, the tug of the world.
Many traditions use this same picture. The poet Rumi wrote of a reed flute crying for home. Zen Buddhists speak of kensho, a sudden seeing clearly. Some early Christian writers spoke of gnosis, a waking knowledge. In all of them, most people sleep, a few wake, and waking takes something more than ordinary effort.
How do you relate to being corrected — by people, by circumstances, by life itself? Do you experience it as rejection, or can you receive it as care?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI