Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Friends, this restless mind of mine is so hard to hold still.
Fickle wants live right alongside it. They tug it this way and that, so it never quite settles.
This one says, honestly, that the mind is very hard to hold still.
This is the Rahao, the "pause" line. It is the center of the shabad. SaaDho ih man gahi-o na jaa-ee — O holy friends, this mind cannot be held. The mind is chanchal, restless and flickering, like a candle flame in a breeze. And tarisnaa, craving, the wanting of more, lives with it like a roommate who never moves out.
Guru Tegh Bahadur does not pretend the mind is easy to steady. That honesty is a kindness. Think of trying to keep a puppy sitting still in a room full of toys.
At its end, the shabad will turn to the one thing that does work: grace, the One's kind gift. Naming the difficulty first is what makes that turn matter.
When you try to sit perfectly still and quiet, what does your mind start doing?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI