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Sikhism·Raag Gauree·Shabad 285
Verse 3 of 4

A Heart Pulled Two Ways Drifts

ਧਨ ਏਕਲੜੀ ਜੀਉ ਬਿਨੁ ਨਾਹ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥
Dhan aykalrhee jee-o bin naah pi-aaray.
The soul-bride who is without her beloved Husband is all alone.
ਦੂਜੈ ਭਾਇ ਮੁਠੀ ਜੀਉ ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦ ਕਰਾਰੇ ॥
doojai bhaa-ay muthee jee-o bin gur sabad karaaray.
She is cheated by the love of duality, without the Word of the Guru's Shabad.
ਬਿਨੁ ਸਬਦ ਪਿਆਰੇ ਕਉਣੁ ਦੁਤਰੁ ਤਾਰੇ ਮਾਇਆ ਮੋਹਿ ਖੁਆਈ ॥
bin sabad pi-aaray ka-un dutar taaray maa-i-aa mohi khu-aa-ee.
Without the Shabad of her Beloved, how can she cross over the treacherous ocean? Attachment to Maya has led her astray.
ਕੂੜਿ ਵਿਗੁਤੀ ਤਾ ਪਿਰਿ ਮੁਤੀ ਸਾ ਧਨ ਮਹਲੁ ਨ ਪਾਈ ॥
koorh vigutee taa pir mutee saa Dhan mahal na paa-ee.
Ruined by falsehood, she is deserted by her Husband Lord. The soul-bride does not attain the Mansion of His Presence.
ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦੇ ਰਾਤੀ ਸਹਜੇ ਮਾਤੀ ਅਨਦਿਨੁ ਰਹੈ ਸਮਾਏ ॥
gur sabday raatee sehjay maatee an-din rahai samaa-ay.
But she who is attuned to the Guru's Shabad is intoxicated with celestial love; night and day, she remains absorbed in Him.
ਨਾਨਕ ਕਾਮਣਿ ਸਦਾ ਰੰਗਿ ਰਾਤੀ ਹਰਿ ਜੀਉ ਆਪਿ ਮਿਲਾਏ ॥੩॥
naanak kaaman sadaa rang raatee har jee-o aap milaa-ay. ||3||
O Nanak, that soul-bride who remains constantly steeped in His Love, is blended by the Lord into Himself. ||3||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

A heart feels alone without the love it longs for, led astray when it chases two directions at once instead of holding fast to the strong, dear Word. Without that beloved Word, who ferries anyone across the rough water? Getting lost in grasping only leads astray. But the heart tuned to the teaching's Word is filled with a gentle, natural gladness, and day and night stays absorbed in the One. Such a heart, forever colored by love, the One folds into itself.

A heart pulled two ways drifts; a heart tuned to one steady love finds gentle gladness.
The deeper layer

Stanza ||3||. Doojai bhaa-ay muthee — cheated by "duality" (doojaa bhaa-o, love of the other-than-One), rendered as "chasing two directions at once." Dutar taaray — ferried across the hard-to-cross water. The contrast: the maya-lost heart drifts, but the Word-tuned heart is sehjay maatee — intoxicated with sahaj, natural ease — and blended into the One. The manmukh's loss is stated as drifting, not doom.

A Question to Sit With

When have you felt pulled in two directions at once? What helped you choose?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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