Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Serving this person and that person — how will you ever reach the Lord's Court?
Whoever sets sail on a boat of stone drowns together with the cargo.
What cannot float by itself cannot carry you across.
This is the picture of the stone boat, one of Guru Nanak's perfect images. Serving "this and that person" means hanging your hopes on one powerful person after another. It feels like a ride. At the dock, every boat looks like it will float.
But people who must lean on others themselves are like stone. Whatever cannot float by itself cannot carry you. When it sinks, it takes the cargo too: the years, the effort, the self you gave it.
Think of trying to cross a pool on a raft made of bricks. It does not matter how good it looks. Only the One, who never sinks, can be the boat. Everything else, however fancy, is just rock.
Whose approval are you sailing on right now — and can it actually float?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI