Kabir doha · Choose Wisely · Level 3
साधु ऐसा चाहिए, जैसा सूप सुभाय।
सार-सार को गहि रहै, थोथा देई उड़ाय।
Sadhu aisa chahiye, jaisa soop subhaay
Saar saar ko gahi rahai, thotha dei uday
Sadhu aisa chahiye means: a good person should be like a soop, the winnowing basket used to clean grain. It keeps the useful grain and lets the light husk blow away. Kabir says we should hold on to what matters and let go of the rest. For children, it is a picture for choosing what to keep.
Updated
Meaning in English
A good person is like a sieve —
keeping the good grain
and letting the dust fly away.
Hold on to what matters
let go of the rest.
अर्थ (हिंदी में)
अच्छा इंसान सूप (छलनी) जैसा होना चाहिए — जो अच्छी बातें अपने पास रखे और बेकार चीज़ों को उड़ा दे। बस काम की चीज़ें पकड़ो, फ़ालतू छोड़ दो।
This doha is also one of the eight in the chapter Kabir ke Dohe in NCERT's Class 8 Hindi textbook, Malhar.
Ayaan's drawing comes back from art class with a note. Two lines say how bright his colours are. One line says the sky needs more care.
All evening, he thinks only about the sky.
His mother reads all three lines aloud, slowly. "Keep the good grain," she says, "and work on the one thing. The rest can blow away."
Keep it light. Let the child answer in their own words, draw it, or hum the line again.
Try this: If you have rice or dal at home, let your child watch or try winnowing with a flat plate. Then play "grain or husk?" with things people said today: which ones are worth keeping?
Bring a real soop, or a picture of one. Children can make a winnowing movement with both hands on "saar saar ko gahi rahai" and blow gently on "thotha dei uday".
It means: a good person should be like a winnowing basket, keeping the grain and letting the husk fly away. Hold on to what is valuable and let go of what is empty.
It means: hold on to the essence and let the empty husk fly away. Saar is the useful part and thotha is the hollow, useless part.
Yes. It is one of the eight dohas in the chapter Kabir ke Dohe in NCERT's Class 8 Hindi textbook, Malhar.