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i was wondering if anyone could help me understand what this shabad means? Thanx in advance!!


aasaa ||
Aasaa:

pehilaa pooth pishhairee maaee ||
First, the son was born, and then, his mother.

gur laago chaelae kee paaee ||1||
The guru falls at the feet of the disciple. ||1||

eaek acha(n)bho sunahu thumh bhaaee ||
Listen to this wonderful thing, O Siblings of Destiny!

dhaekhath si(n)gh charaavath gaaee ||1|| rehaao ||
I saw the lion herding the cows. ||1||Pause||

jal kee mashhulee tharavar biaaee ||
The fish of the water gives birth upon a tree.

dhaekhath kutharaa lai gee bilaaee ||2||
I saw a cat carrying away a dog. ||2||

thalai rae baisaa oopar soolaa ||
The branches are below, and the roots are above.

this kai paedd lagae fal foolaa ||3||
The trunk of that tree bears fruits and flowers. ||3||

ghorai char bhais charaavan jaaee ||
Riding a horse, the buffalo takes him out to graze.

baahar bail gon ghar aaee ||4||
The bull is away, while his load has come home. ||4||

kehath kabeer j eis padh boojhai ||
Says Kabeer, one who understands this hymn,

raam ramath this sabh kishh soojhai ||5||9||22||
and chants the Lord's Name, comes to understand everything. ||5||9||22||

The English language meanings above are literal meanings only and confuses the reader instead of helping him understand Gurbani. Bhagat Kabir jee was a mushkil-pasand poet. His baani is very mehingi-baani and has very deep meanings. Many of his saloks are unsolved and only reaching his spiritual state one can understand his baani. What can we Kaljugi jeevs with meagre intelligences claim about understanding his baani. Below is a humble attempt to interpret this shabad by this insect:



pehilaa pooth pishhairee maaee ||

Pooth means son but over here it means son of Vaheguru. The jeev-aatma is the progeny of Vaheguru and has all the qualities that Vaheguru himself has. For this reason, this pooth (son) of Vaheguru comes first and maayee i.e. maya that was created at a later time, comes pichhairee i.e. later i.e. is second in heirarchy.



gur laago chaelae kee paaee ||1||

Mann (mind) that is really jyot-roop or Aatma-roop is following maya and this way falling at the feet of maya. Mann being jyot-roop is the Guru or leader but it is falling at the feet of disciple or servant maya. Maya is the follower but since mann has been led astray under the influence of maya, it is following maya instead of following his jyot (aatma).

eaek acha(n)bho sunahu thumh bhaaee ||

Listen to this extremely strange development O Brother.

dhaekhath si(n)gh charaavath gaaee ||1|| rehaao ||

Mann that is jyot saroop and really the king (mann Raja Sultan) is serving the agents of maya and this sight is as if a lion is serving cows by grazing them. Instead of maya serving the Mann or jeev-aatma, the things have gone other way around i.e. mann is serving maya.

jal kee mashhulee tharavar biaaee ||

The fish that cannot live without water has left water and given birth on a tree i.e. has started living on trees. Fish again represents jeev-aatma or mann that has left Ocean Vaheguru and taken up residence away from the Ocean on trees i.e. has been led towards maya.


dhaekhath kutharaa lai gee bilaaee ||2||

Cat cannot take on a dog. To explain to us, how the jeev-aatma has fallen prey to a much inferior entity maya, Bhagat jee is giving us all these examples. The dog roop Jeev-aatma is being captured by the cat roop maya. Some scholars have interpreted Dog as representing santokh but I don’t know how can dog be called santokh (contentment) when we know that dog is instead known for the opposite of santokh i.e. greed. It seems better to interpret Dog as representing faithfulness to Vaheguru because dogs are known to be loyal to their owners and are not known to be santokhi. In this light, this pankiti would mean that the jeev-aatma has shed its nature of faithfulness and loyalty towards Vaheguru and has become slave to cat roop maya. Cat here represents the hunting nature of maya.

thalai rae baisaa oopar soolaa ||

The jeev has uprooted his roots and has thus placed himself upside down i.e. has gone towards the way of maya.


this kai paedd lagae fal foolaa ||3||

Such tree that has roots up and branches towards the bottom will have only such deviant fruits.


ghorai char bhais charaavan jaaee ||


Buffalo here represents Vaasna i.e. desires, sensuality etc and the horse represents the mann. The desires ride the mind and forces the mind to fulfill it’s demands of manmatt.

baahar bail gon ghar aaee ||4||

Bail or Oxen here represents patience and calmness of mind. The calmness of mind has left and its place has been taken by desires i.e. the jeev-aatma has moved towards maya leaving Vaheguru.

kehath kabeer j eis padh boojhai || raam ramath this sabh kishh soojhai ||5||9||22||


Siri Kabir jee is saying that whoever understands this true philosophy of life will indulge in Naam abhyaas i.e. will leave maya and move towards his father Vaheguru.

Baani is agam agaadh bodh. May Guru Sahib pardon my mistakes in interpreting baani above.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh