Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Chasing after two things at once, hearts get tangled in wanting more and more.
Trading away a real peace for a handful of straw, then forgetting the One -- that is how the ache begins.
Wandering without seeing clearly, a life can keep circling the same restlessness.
Nothing quite settles, and at the end there is only wishing it had gone differently.
But when grace touches someone, they meet the Guru and keep the One in mind.
Those steeped in the Naam find a peace that lasts. Nanak says: I give my whole heart to them.
A Guru Amar Das shalok. The vivid image is har sukh palhar ti-aagi-aa -- giving up the peace of the One "in exchange for straw" (palhar), a child-clear picture of a bad trade. The manmukh (self-turned) lines and janam mareh are softened to "circling the same restlessness" and honest regret, dropping death-terror. The turn is grace: jis karam hovai tis satgur milai -- the one grace touches meets the Guru. Nanak's closing bal jaa-ay (I am a sacrifice) is read as glad devotion, not self-erasure.
Have you ever traded something that mattered for something that turned out not to?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI