Salok Vaaraan Te Vadheek (Mehl 1), Salok 10 — The Company You Keep
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A crow bathes in a salty little puddle, rubbing and scrubbing itself.
Its mind and body stay dirty with its faults, and its beak is full of grime.
Keeping company with the crow, that bad bird, the swan never came to know the lake.
That is what love with someone cut off from the One is like; O wise ones, understand this with love.
So cheer for the gathering of the saints, and do your deeds as one who turns to the Guru.
Nanak says: that is the pure bath — the Guru is the sacred river.
The company you keep decides which water you bathe in.
Kalar kayree chhaprhee: a salty puddle, where the crow scrubs and scrubs and stays dirty. Sarvar hans na jaani-aa kaag kupankhee sang: in the company of the crow, the swan never came to know the lake it was made for. The saakat, someone cut off from the One, is that kind of company.
The turn is to sant sabhaa, the gathering of the saints, and to gur tirath daree-aa-o, the Guru as the sacred river where the bath is pure.
Who are the people who leave you feeling clearer and better, and who are the ones who pull you toward the mud?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI