Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Read what's written in your own heart first, before you go correcting everyone else.
If you lead people the wrong way, you both end up stuck — so lead from what's true in you.
This verse turns to the teacher directly: aapan parhi-aa parhaa-i... read your own forehead — look honestly at yourself — before you teach wickedness to others. The vivid image warns that a misleading guide and the misled follower are bound together: aagai bandhaa... galai paas — first the teacher is tied, then the noose falls on the pupil. The universal lesson under the sharp picture is one children grasp easily: whoever leads has to be going the right way themselves, because everyone following them goes where they go. Look inward and get honest first; then you can help others.
Why is it important that someone leading the way actually knows where they're going?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI