Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
If someone turns their face away from the Guru, they will not find freedom without the True Guru.
They will not find it anywhere else either. Go and ask the wise; they will tell you.
They will wander through life after life. Without the True Guru, they will not find freedom.
But freedom comes when they hold on to the True Guru's feet and sing the Shabad.
Nanak says: think about it and see. Without the True Guru, there is no freedom.
Jay ko gur tay vaimukh hovai — if someone turns away from the Guru. Vaimukh (also said baymukh) means turning your face away. Bin satgur mukat na paavai — without the True Guru, they do not find mukat, freedom. This is the deep kind of freedom, from being bossed around by our wants and fears.
The verse just before this one talked about sanmukh, facing the Guru. This one is its partner, and it is the sternest verse of the song. It even says freedom is found nowhere else. Puchhahu bibaykee-aa jaa-ay — go ask the wise ones. A bibaykee is someone who can tell what is real from what only looks real.
The verse looks at turning away with sadness, not anger. Turning your back on wisdom does not hurt the wisdom. It only puts your own freedom out of reach.
Two things help us read this rightly. First, "Guru" here is not a line that keeps some people in and others out. The song has already shown that the Guru is the waking wisdom, the Word. It is like light. A face turned away from the light will not see it, whichever way it chooses to look.
Second, the door never shuts. Fir mukat paa-ay laag charnee — freedom comes again when a person comes back to the Guru's feet. The verse speaks of wandering through anayk joonee, many lifetimes. That old picture shows how much is at stake. But the wandering ends the moment you turn around.
Think of a sunflower. When it turns toward the sun, it fills with light. If it turns away, it can always turn back. The sun never stopped shining.
Have you ever refused to listen to someone who turned out to be right — and what finally helped you turn back?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI