Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When anger fills the heart, it can crowd out everything else, until good sense simply slips away.
In that heat, even the jewel of clear understanding can get swept off, and by ourselves we can't seem to hold it back.
This one says anger can sweep away even our best understanding.
Kathan karoDh ghat hee kay bheetar — hard anger sits inside the heart. KaroDh means anger. Jih suDh sabh bisraa-ee — it makes all good sense forgotten. Anger takes over clear thinking, like a flood rushing through a garden.
Then comes the picture of a jewel. Ratan gi-aan is the jewel of wisdom, our best knowing. In a strong feeling, it gets stolen away. Think of knowing exactly how to say something kindly, and then, in a flash of anger, saying something else entirely.
The verse is honest: taa si-o kachh na basaa-ee — nothing can stand against it. On our own strength alone, we cannot master it. This sets up the next part of the shabad. The answer is grace, not willpower.
When you're really angry, where does your usual good sense seem to go?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI