Salok Vaaraan Te Vadheek (Mehl 1), Salok 9 — Water for the Fire Within
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
If you want to put out the fire, look for water; without the Guru, that treasure of water is not found.
You keep wandering through birth and death, even if you do a hundred thousand good deeds.
But death cannot make you pay its tax if you walk in step with the True Guru's will.
Nanak says: the pure, undying state is reached, and the Guru joins you with the One.
The fire of wanting is put out by the water the Guru gives.
Agan marai jal lorh lahu: to put out the fire, look for water. The fire is the burning of desire inside. Vin gur niDh jal naahi: without the Guru, the treasure of water is not found. Jay lakh karam kamaahi: even a hundred thousand deeds do not stop the wandering through janam marai, birth and death.
Jam jaagaat na lag-ee: death, pictured as a tax collector, takes nothing from the one who walks satgur bhaa-ay, in the True Guru's will. That person reaches nirmal amar pad, a pure state that does not die.
What is something you kept chasing that never made the wanting stop?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI