Earth, Water, Breath, and Body: All Lent, None Earned
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
By Grace you stand on solid earth, laughing with your family and friends.
By Grace you drink cool water, feel the breeze, warm yourself at priceless fire.
By Grace you enjoy what you enjoy. Everything needed for living has been set out for you.
You were handed hands, feet, ears, eyes, a tongue - and then you turn away from the Giver toward smaller things. Nanak says: lift us out of this blindness, God.
Look at the simplest things you have, and remember who gave them.
The list gets more basic. Earth to stand on. Cool water. Wind. Fire. Then the body's own tools. Deenay hasat paav karan naytar rasnaa — you were given hands, feet, ears, eyes, and a tongue.
Guru Arjan puts a price on purpose. Paavak amulaa — priceless fire. The things we take most for granted are the ones nothing could replace.
Then the turn. Tiseh ti-aag avar sang rachnaa — leaving the Giver, you get attached to other things. The sad part is not that a thank-you went unpaid. It is that our attention goes to the wrong place. We love the gifts instead of the Giver.
Think of opening birthday presents so fast you forget to look up at the person who gave them. That is what Maya means. Maya is the glitter that makes us forget the One.
Like every verse of this song, it ends in a prayer, not a scolding. Naanak kaadh layho parabh aapay — God, lift them out Yourself. Nanak prays for the blind, and counts himself among them.
If you had to buy the air you breathe, what would it be worth - and what is it costing you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI