Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
To turn away from your own teacher is to leave yourself without a resting place.
A chance like this — to bow low and learn — is precious; do not let it slip past unnoticed.
If we miss the teaching's count, our days can pass heavy and sorrowful.
The teaching holds no hatred and no grudge; it gathers close whoever it draws in.
Those shown the living vision of the One are set free and welcomed home.
A Shalok of the Third Mehl warning, gently, against turning from the teacher. The literal is stern — "no home, no place, lose both worlds, pass life in pain." Per the wellbeing rules this is softened to loss of a resting place and days passing "heavy and sorrowful" — a natural consequence of missing something precious, not a threatened punishment. The verse's true heart is its most beautiful line: satgur purakh nirvair hai — the teaching "has no hatred, no grudge" (nirvair, echoing the Mool Mantar). It holds nothing against anyone; it simply gathers in whoever it draws. And darshan — the living vision of the One — sets free and welcomes home. The warning exists only to point at how precious the open door is.
Have you ever let a good chance slip by, and wished later you had taken it? What makes some opportunities worth reaching for right away?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI