ਬੁਰਾ ਭਲਾ ਕਹੁ ਕਿਸ ਨੋ ਕਹੀਐ ॥
buraa bhalaa kaho kis no kahee-ai.
Tell me: who should we call good or bad?
ਦੀਸੈ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਸਚੁ ਲਹੀਐ ॥
deesai barahm gurmukh sach lahee-ai.
Behold the Lord God; the truth is revealed to the Gurmukh.
ਅਕਥੁ ਕਥਉ ਗੁਰਮਤਿ ਵੀਚਾਰੁ ॥
akath katha-o gurmat veechaar.
I speak the Unspoken Speech of the Lord, contemplating the Guru's Teachings.
ਮਿਲਿ ਗੁਰ ਸੰਗਤਿ ਪਾਵਉ ਪਾਰੁ ॥੩॥
mil gur sangat paava-o paar. ||3||
I join the Sangat, the Guru's Congregation, and I find God's limits. ||3||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Tell me — who should we call good, and who bad?
Behold the One in everything; the truth is shown to the soul turned toward the Guru.
I speak the Unspoken, contemplating the Guru's teaching; I join the Sangat, and there I find the One's vastness.
If the One is in everyone, who exactly are you so sure is "bad"?
A profound dismantling of judgment: "who should we call good or bad?" If the One is in all (Shabad 28's Light), facile labeling collapses. The Gurmukh sees the One behind every face and so stops sorting people into good and bad — the same non-judgment as Raag Maajh's "all paths lead to the One". Truth here is "Unspoken" — beyond words, found in Sangat.
A Question to Sit With
When have you been too quick to label someone good or bad?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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