byVw bMiD n sikE bMDn kI vylw ]
byVw bNiD n sikAo bNDn kI vylw ]
bayrhaa banDh na saki-o banDhan kee vaylaa. SGGS Ang 794-16
You were not able to make yourself a raft when you should have.
1. bayraa = raft, also spelled as baerree, depending on the transliteration being used.
2. bhandhan, or as you have written bhanDhan = entanglements or bonds. Transliterations again differ.
3. vaylaa, also spelled in transliteration vaelaa, and also spelled vahela -- all depending on whose transliteration is being used = moment or time.
The line
byVw bMiD n sikE bMDn kI vylw ]
bayrhaa banDh na saki-o banDhan kee vaylaa. SGGS Ang 794-16
Can just as easily be translated to say, You were not able to build a raft when it was the time for you to break your bond (to ego is implied). Or free yourself from your entanglement in ego.
This translation/interpretation fits with the surrounding lines of the Shabad.
ਬੇੜਾ ਬੰਧਿ ਨ ਸਕਿਓ ਬੰਧਨ ਕੀ ਵੇਲਾ ॥
baerraa bandhh n sakiou bandhhan kee vaelaa ||
You were not able to build a raft when it was the time for you to break your bond to ego.
ਭਰਿ ਸਰਵਰੁ ਜਬ ਊਛਲੈ ਤਬ ਤਰਣੁ ਦੁਹੇਲਾ ॥੧॥
bhar saravar jab ooshhalai thab tharan dhuhaelaa ||1||
When the ocean is churning and over-flowing, then it is very difficult to cross over it. ||1||
ਹਥੁ ਨ ਲਾਇ ਕਸੁੰਭੜੈ ਜਲਿ ਜਾਸੀ ਢੋਲਾ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
hathh n laae kasunbharrai jal jaasee dtolaa ||1|| rehaao ||
Do not touch the safflower with your hands; its color will fade away, my dear. ||1||Pause||
ਇਕ ਆਪੀਨ੍ਹ੍ਹੈ ਪਤਲੀ ਸਹ ਕੇਰੇ ਬੋਲਾ ॥
eik aapeenhai pathalee seh kaerae bolaa ||
First, the bride herself is weak, and then, her Husband Lord's Order is hard to bear.
ਦੁਧਾ ਥਣੀ ਨ ਆਵਈ ਫਿਰਿ ਹੋਇ ਨ ਮੇਲਾ ॥੨॥
dhudhhaa thhanee n aavee fir hoe n maelaa ||2||
Milk does not return to the breast; it will not be
ਕਹੈ ਫਰੀਦੁ ਸਹੇਲੀਹੋ ਸਹੁ ਅਲਾਏਸੀ ॥
kehai fareedh sehaeleeho sahu alaaeaesee ||
Says Fareed, O my companions, when our Husband Lord calls,
ਹੰਸੁ ਚਲਸੀ ਡੁੰਮਣਾ ਅਹਿ ਤਨੁ ਢੇਰੀ ਥੀਸੀ ॥੩॥੨॥
hans chalasee ddunmanaa ahi than dtaeree thheesee ||3||2||
the soul departs, sad at heart, and this body returns to dust. ||3||2||
Fareed is talking about the difficulty of dying (not physical death but death of self) the difficulty of swimming across because "the ocean is churning" meaning that the expanse in which Ego struggles is in a state of upheaval. The ego is disturbed -- when it is struggling to swim across to merge with the Divine. "The order of the Husband Lord is hard to bear." Why is it hard? Because once across there is no going back. "Milk does not return to the breast." We are "sad at heart". This detachment, this abandonment of ego, is hard to accept at first.
My thoughts.
