We Trade Jewels for Shells, and Mercy Still Reaches
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
We drop the jewel and clutch the shell. We let go of Truth and hug what is false.
What must pass away, we call permanent. What is right here, we call far away.
We sweat for what we will have to leave behind, and turn our backs on the Friend who never leaves.
We rinse off the perfume and roll in the mud like donkeys. We have fallen into a deep dark pit. Nanak says: reach down, Merciful One, and lift us out.
We trade jewels for shells, and still mercy reaches down for us.
This is a gallery of mixed-up choices, in pairs. Ratan ti-aag ka-udee sang rachai — they drop the jewel and fall for a shell. They leave Truth for what is fake. They think what is passing will last. They think the One who is right here, inside everything, is far away. They work hard for things they must leave behind. They turn away from the Helper who is always with them.
Then comes the picture children remember forever. Chandan layp utaarai Dho-ay — they wash off sandalwood paste, a sweet-smelling cream. GarDhab pareet bhasam sang ho-ay — like a donkey, they love the dirt.
The donkey is not the bad guy. Donkeys love dirt honestly. The sadness is for a being made for sweetness, who chooses the mud instead. Think of a kid who gets a brand new bike and plays with the cardboard box instead.
Look at how the verse speaks. It never says they deserve the pit. It says they have fallen into it. And its last line is a call for rescue, not a punishment. Naanak kaadh layho parabh da-i-aal — Merciful One, lift them out. In Sukhmani, even the sharpest poking fun ends in a prayer for the very people it describes.
What shiny worthless thing have you clutched while something precious sat ignored?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI