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Sikhism·Dakhnee Onkaar·Shabad 111
Verse 39 of 55

How Trouble Traps Itself

ਪਾਪੁ ਬੁਰਾ ਪਾਪੀ ਕਉ ਪਿਆਰਾ ॥
paap buraa paapee ka-o pi-aaraa.
Sin is bad, but it is dear to the sinner.
ਪਾਪਿ ਲਦੇ ਪਾਪੇ ਪਾਸਾਰਾ ॥
paap laday paapay paasaaraa.
He loads himself with sin, and expands his world through sin.
ਪਰਹਰਿ ਪਾਪੁ ਪਛਾਣੈ ਆਪੁ ॥
parhar paap pachhaanai aap.
Sin is far away from one who understands himself.
ਨਾ ਤਿਸੁ ਸੋਗੁ ਵਿਜੋਗੁ ਸੰਤਾਪੁ ॥
naa tis sog vijog santaap.
He is not afflicted by sorrow or separation.
ਨਰਕਿ ਪੜੰਤਉ ਕਿਉ ਰਹੈ ਕਿਉ ਬੰਚੈ ਜਮਕਾਲੁ ॥
narak parhaNta-o ki-o rahai ki-o banchai jamkaal.
How can one avoid falling into hell? How can he cheat the Messenger of Death?
ਕਿਉ ਆਵਣ ਜਾਣਾ ਵੀਸਰੈ ਝੂਠੁ ਬੁਰਾ ਖੈ ਕਾਲੁ ॥
ki-o aavan jaanaa veesrai jhooth buraa khai kaal.
How can coming and going be forgotten? Falsehood is bad, and death is cruel.
ਮਨੁ ਜੰਜਾਲੀ ਵੇੜਿਆ ਭੀ ਜੰਜਾਲਾ ਮਾਹਿ ॥
man janjaalee vayrhi-aa bhee janjaalaa maahi.
The mind is enveloped by entanglements, and into entanglements it falls.
ਵਿਣੁ ਨਾਵੈ ਕਿਉ ਛੂਟੀਐ ਪਾਪੇ ਪਚਹਿ ਪਚਾਹਿ ॥੩੮॥
vin naavai ki-o chhootee-ai paapay pacheh pachaahi. ||38||
Without the Name, how can anyone be saved? They rot away in sin. ||38||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Doing wrong is bad, yet the one who does it holds it dear.

They load themselves with wrong, and spread it all around them.

Whoever drops the wrong and comes to know themselves is free of sorrow, separation and pain.

How can anyone keep from falling into hell? How can anyone slip past death?

How can the coming and going be forgotten? Lies are bad, and death is cruel.

The mind is wrapped in tangles, and falls into more tangles.

Without the Naam, how can anyone be free? People waste away in their wrongdoing.

Wrongdoing traps itself by becoming a habit — but the Name loosens the knots.
The deeper layer

Paap (wrongdoing) becomes "dear" through habit — the self-reinforcing trap. Parhar paap pachhaanai aap — set it down and know yourself, and there is no sog, vijog, or santaap (sorrow, separation, anguish).

Narak (hell) and jamkaal (death) are the end of a life spent in wrong and lies; the questions point to the Naam as the way out.

A Question to Sit With

Is there a small habit you'd like to set down before it settles in?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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