Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
He's lost in the pretty color of the flower, straining only after things that harm him.
The moment he hears of some way to grab more, his heart leaps and he runs after it.
This is a precise little portrait of craving. The "flower's color" is anything that dazzles briefly — attractive, momentary, and gone tomorrow. And notice the honest observation about greed: the mere mention of a way to get more makes the heart leap and the feet run. Guru Arjan is naming the automatic, almost involuntary pull of lobh (greed). The point is not that wanting nice things is wicked, but that this reflexive chasing exhausts a person and leads them, again and again, toward what "harms" them — because the chasing never ends and never satisfies. Seeing the pattern clearly is the first loosening of its grip.
Have you noticed how quickly you can start wanting something the moment you hear about it? Where does that chasing usually lead?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI