Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
One minute you tear people down, the next you flatter them; you trade in lies and gossip. You let your eyes and wants wander where they should not, and you take what is not yours. But when the soul -- the bright swan -- flies away, the body is left behind, deserted and alone.
The body can fill its days with harm, yet one day the soul flies on and the body is left behind.
Ha-o tudh aakhaa mayree kaa-i-aa — I am telling you, my body: listen. Then comes a list of the self-facing life. Nindaa chindaa karahi paraa-ee — you tear others down, then flatter them. Jhoothee laa-itbaaree — you trade in lies and gossip. You let your eyes and wants wander where they should not, and you take what is not yours.
Then comes the picture that stays with you. Hans chali-aa — the swan has flown. The hans, the swan, is the soul, and the body is left behind, deserted. All through Gurbani, the soul is the noble guest and the body is only a place to stay for a while. Think of a hotel room after the guest checks out. The room is still there, but no one lives in it.
Naming these harms so plainly is meant to wake us up. It is a warning, not a verdict.
What habits would you not want to be the things that defined your time here?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI