Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Those who follow only their own will take blows to the head and are eaten up by conflict.
The cheaters are plundered by their own falsehood, chained and led away.
This one says that a cheater's first victim is himself.
The manmukhs, people who follow only their own will, get knocked about and are vaad khapaa-ee-ai, used up by quarrels. Their troubles bring fights, but no lesson.
Then the second picture: thag muthee koorhi-aar — the cheaters are robbed by their own lies. The very tool they used to steal is used on them. Someone who lives by tricks ends up among tricksters. Deeper still, they are cheated out of what is real.
Think of a kid who copies answers all year. They get the grades, but not the learning. They cheated themselves most of all. The chains in the verse only show what was already true: lying never set anyone free.
Have you ever seen a lie end up costing the liar most of all?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI