Sikhism·Raag Bilaaval·Shabad 173
Verse 25 of 40

Ill-Will Empties The One Who Carries It

ਪਉੜੀ ॥
pa-orhee.
Pauree:
ਜਿਨੀ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮ ਧਨੁ ਨ ਖਟਿਓ ਸੇ ਦੇਵਾਲੀਏ ਜੁਗ ਮਾਹਿ ॥
jinee gurmukh har naam Dhan na khati-o say dayvaalee-ay jug maahi.
Those who do not become Gurmukh and earn the wealth of the Lord's Name, are bankrupt in this age.
ਓਇ ਮੰਗਦੇ ਫਿਰਹਿ ਸਭ ਜਗਤ ਮਹਿ ਕੋਈ ਮੁਹਿ ਥੁਕ ਨ ਤਿਨ ਕਉ ਪਾਹਿ ॥
o-ay mangday fireh sabh jagat meh ko-ee muhi thuk na tin ka-o paahi.
They wander around begging all over the world, but no one even spits in their faces.
ਪਰਾਈ ਬਖੀਲੀ ਕਰਹਿ ਆਪਣੀ ਪਰਤੀਤਿ ਖੋਵਨਿ ਸਗਵਾ ਭੀ ਆਪੁ ਲਖਾਹਿ ॥
paraa-ee bakheelee karahi aapnee parteet khovan sagvaa bhee aap lakhaahi.
They gossip about others, and lose their credit, and expose themselves as well.
ਜਿਸੁ ਧਨ ਕਾਰਣਿ ਚੁਗਲੀ ਕਰਹਿ ਸੋ ਧਨੁ ਚੁਗਲੀ ਹਥਿ ਨ ਆਵੈ ਓਇ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਿਥੈ ਜਾਹਿ ॥
jis Dhan kaaran chuglee karahi so Dhan chuglee hath na aavai o-ay bhaavai tithai jaahi.
That wealth, for which they slander others, does not come into their hands, no matter where they go.
ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਸੇਵਕ ਭਾਇ ਹਰਿ ਧਨੁ ਮਿਲੈ ਤਿਥਹੁ ਕਰਮਹੀਣ ਲੈ ਨ ਸਕਹਿ ਹੋਰ ਥੈ ਦੇਸ ਦਿਸੰਤਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਧਨੁ ਨਾਹਿ ॥੮॥
gurmukh sayvak bhaa-ay har Dhan milai tithhu karamheen lai na sakahi hor thai days disantar har Dhan naahi. ||8||
Through loving service, the Gurmukhs receive the wealth of the Naam, but the unfortunate ones cannot receive it. This wealth is not found anywhere else, in this country or in any other. ||8||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Those who never turn toward the Guru and gather the treasure of the Naam end up feeling empty inside.

They go about grasping, yet the grasping never fills them.

When someone runs others down, it is their own trust they quietly spend, and they end up showing more than they meant to.

The very thing they schemed for slips further away, wherever they go.

Meanwhile, those who serve with love simply receive the treasure of the Name -- a wealth found nowhere else on earth.

Running others down doesn't cost them -- it quietly empties the one doing it.
The deeper layer

The eighth numbered Pauri (Guru Ram Das), the fullest picture of the slander-motif. The source is blunt (backbiting, losing one's own credit); the harsh "no one even spits in their faces" line is dropped. What is kept, and it is the honest teaching, is the self-defeat of ill-will: paraa-ee bakheelee karahi aapnee parteet khovan -- running others down, a person spends their own good name. No one is shamed from above; the grasping and the scheming simply empty the one who does them, while loving service quietly fills.

A Question to Sit With

Have you noticed how a person who is always criticizing others slowly loses people's trust?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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