Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Someone turned only toward themselves can spend a whole day chasing after what they want, and pretend it is something nobler; but by night they are worn out and empty.
Whoever lives the way the True Guru says is a good and true person — the best of the best.
The One made every woman and every man, and the whole play of the world is the One's own play, set spinning by the One.
Nanak says: all of it — the whole arrangement — is Your making, and it is the best of the best.
A day spent chasing what you want leaves you worn out, but a life shaped by the True Guru is whole, and every woman and man comes from the same One.
This Shalok is by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Guru. It compares a scattered life pulled by greed with a life shaped by the True Guru. The manmukh, the person facing only themselves, chases wants all day. By night they are tired and empty. Think of scrolling on a phone for hours. You end up drained, not full.
Some of the verse's lines are blunt and belong to their own time, the 1500s. They call it impure to be ruled by someone else's desires, and they name a woman's wishes as one example.
But the verse's own ending shows the point is not men against women at all. Joraa purakh sabh aap upaa-ian: the One made every woman and every man. The whole world is one play of the One. So the teaching is simple. A life pulled by craving wears you out. A life shaped by the True Guru is whole. And everyone, woman and man alike, comes from the same Oneness.
What does it feel like at the end of a day spent only chasing what you wanted — compared to a day spent doing what you knew was right?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI