Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Holy books and holy people warn us to be careful of some things. Those are often the very things we chase after hardest. It is like a gambler who keeps betting even as he loses. Cravings pull him along until they seem to be running the show.
This one says we often chase hardest the very things the wise warn us about.
Baybarjat bayd santnaa u-aahoo si-o ray hitno — what the bayd and the sant warn against, that is what you are fond of. The bayd are the Vedas, ancient holy books. The sant are holy people. Hit means fondness. The verse names these two witnesses together, holy books and holy people, with quiet respect. It does not set one faith against another.
Then the picture: haar joo-aar joo-aa — the gambler losing at the game. Craving, the pull of the indree, the senses, keeps us doubling down on what already is not working. Think of a phone game that keeps saying, "Just one more try." You keep losing, and you keep tapping.
Is there something you keep going back to even though it never really satisfies?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI