Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Without the Word, the mind finds no place of rest.
Remember the most pure Name, and renounce your bitter egotism.
The restless mind cannot settle itself; the Guru's Word gives it a place to rest.
This is the Rahao, the "pause" line at the center of the shabad. Bin gur sabdai man nahee tha-uraa — without the Guru's Word, the mind finds no place to rest. Think of a leaf blown about by the wind. It cannot stop itself. It needs a branch to land on. The Shabad, the Guru's Word, is that branch.
So the verse says: remember the Name, the purest of all, and let go of haumai. Haumai is ego, the "me first" feeling. The verse calls it bitter, and it is the source of the mind's restlessness.
What actually settles your mind when nothing else will?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI