Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Whoever conquers this one thing is a true hero. Whoever conquers it becomes whole and complete.
Whoever conquers it grows quietly great -- and all their suffering lifts away.
This one starts a riddle: whoever overcomes "this" becomes a hero. But what is "this"?
Guru Arjan repeats jo is maaray again and again. It means "whoever kills this." Yet he does not say, in this verse, what "this" is. The suspense is the point. The answer waits for the Rahao, the pause line that comes next.
The word maaray means "kills." But what is being overcome is not a person. It is a false idea inside us. It gets healed, not struck down in anger. So "conquers" or "overcomes" is the meaning here.
Look at the rewards. Sooraa means a hero. Pooraa means whole, complete. Vadi-aa-ee is a quiet greatness. And dukh, suffering, goes away.
Think of a riddle game where the answer is written on the next card. You lean in to find out. Every reward in the list describes being whole inside. None of them is about winning over other people.
What is one thing inside yourself that, if you could master it, would change everything?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI