Translation

(1) Ek bhusāḍīne ekḍo re vāḷyā mīnḍā vīs

Sadguru Nishkulanand Swami

Ek bhusāḍīne ekḍo re, vāḷyā mīnḍā vīs;

 Jotā sarvālo na jaḍyo re, tyāre kare chhe rīs... 1

(1) You erased the digit ‘1’ and wrote twenty zeroes. When this does not add up, you become mad.

Dhan vinā kare chhe dhānkhnā re, kāīk maḷvā kāj;

 Pāmīsh nahi paḍīkā rākhnā re, ṭhālī khoīsh lāj... 2

(2) Without any money, you still desire to acquire great things. You will only acquire packets of ashes and lose your dignity.

Dīvo dinkar āgḷe re, karvā jāye koy;

 Shobhā shu lakhāy kāgḷe re, ūlṭī hāsī hoy... 3

(3) One who lights a flame while the sun is out will be laughed at. Of what comparison is the brightness of the flame to the sun?

Moṭā panḍit āge mūrakho re, kare koy uchchār;

 Sahu jāṇe pashu sarkho re, bhulye na paḍe bhār... 4

(4) A foolish (ignorant) person who argues with a great pundit will be considered like an animal by others. The words of the fool have no effect.

Mānḍī mor kaḷā sohāmaṇī re, pachhī dekhāḍe pūṭh;^†

 Nishkuḷānand lāge lajāmaṇī re, jarāy nathī jūṭh... 5

(5) A peacock spreads its feathers and looks elegant; but doing so exposes its ugly back. Nishkulanand Swami says there is no untruth that this is disgraceful.

^†Aksharbrahma Gunatitanand Swami has mentioned this in his Swamini Vato 3/69. When a peacock spreads its feathers, it looks beautiful from the front but this display exposes its ugly back.

Note: some kirtans have been translated using AI. Kirtans naturally contain many types of imagery and hence can be open to interpretation. In some cases, the base translation by AI may have been modified to provide a simple translation when possible.