Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Some women once had lovely braided hair, the parting painted red with vermillion.
Those same heads were shaved, and dust filled their throats.
They lived in palace mansions. Now they are not allowed even to sit near the palaces.
This one is about Guru Nanak refusing to look away when people suffered.
This hymn is one of the "Babar-vani," Guru Nanak's songs about something he saw with his own eyes. Around 1520, the army of Babur attacked the town of Saidpur, and many people were hurt.
This verse looks at the town's women. The red vermillion in the parting of their hair was the sign of a married woman. It stood for a whole safe, happy world. The shaved heads and the dust in their throats show that world ruined in a single day.
Guru Nanak does not make it sound softer than it was. He does not look away. By putting it into a sacred song, he asks all of us to look too, and to care.
Think of a friend who tells you honestly about something sad, instead of pretending it's fine. That honesty is a kind of love. This hymn begins there, with grief seen clearly.
Why do you think Guru Nanak made himself watch — and made us watch too?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI