Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A muddled heart can call the newcomer a leaver, and the one who has left a newcomer. It can clutch at what belongs to others as if it were its own, while barely caring for what is genuinely its own.
A mixed-up heart grabs what isn't its own and forgets to care for what truly is.
The flips continue, now about belonging and about coming and going. Aavat ka-o jaataa kahai — the one arriving is called the one leaving, and the one leaving is called the one arriving. It shows a muddled sense of where things really stand.
The sharpest line is par kee ka-o apunee kahai. Calling what belongs to others "mine." Grabbing at what is not ours. And apuno nahee bhaa-i-aa — feeling no love for what truly is ours. What is truly ours is our own soul, and the One within it.
Imagine spending all day playing with a borrowed game while your own guitar gathers dust in the corner.
Guru Nanak gently shows how haumai, the ego, turns everything sideways. It chases what is only borrowed and forgets what is real.
What is genuinely "yours" — your own heart and character — that is worth caring for more than borrowed things?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI