Moods Swing Like Weather; Don't Despair of the Storms
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
No power sits in these small hands - the Cause behind causes is the Master of it all.
We helpless beings move inside His flow; what pleases Him is what finally happens.
So sometimes we are lifted high, sometimes pressed low; sometimes grieving, sometimes laughing with delight. Sometimes tangled in blame and worry; sometimes soaring the upper skies, sometimes down in the underworld.
And sometimes - the contemplation of the One dawns. Nanak says: He Himself joins us to Himself.
Our moods change like the weather, and that is no reason to give up.
is kaa bal naahee is haath — a person holds no power in their own hands. The Doer behind all causes is the Master of all.
Then begins the famous kabhoo list. Kabhoo means "sometimes." kabhoo sog harakh rang hasai — sometimes sad, sometimes laughing with joy. Sometimes high, sometimes low. Sometimes caught in blaming and worry. Sometimes up in the skies, sometimes deep underground.
It is an honest weather report on the inside of a person. The verse does not scold us for swinging. It does not promise the swings will stop. It places them inside the One's order. Moods are not proof that you failed. They are the weather of being a creature. An earlier section called these the three gunas, the three moods of nature, here felt from the inside.
Then comes a turn: kabhoo baytaa barahm beechaar — sometimes a person knows the One. At first it looks like one more "sometimes," one more kind of weather. But the last line changes it: naanak aap milaavanhaar — the One joins them to itself. Think of the difference between one sunny day and a sunny place you get to live. We cannot hold a mood still. The One can make it home.
When you feel suddenly sad or suddenly joyful for no clear reason, what if it is weather - not a verdict on you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI