paraa-ee jo nindaa chuglee no vaimukh kar kai bhayji-aa othai bhee muhu kaalaa duhaa vaymukhaa daa karaa-i-aa.
The faithless baymukh was sent to slander and back-bite others, but when he went there, the faces of both he and his faithless master were blackened instead.
It was immediately heard throughout the whole world, O Siblings of Destiny, that this faithless man, along with his servant, was kicked and beaten with shoes; in humiliation, they got up and returned to their homes.
Dhan Dhan su-aamee kartaa purakh hai jin ni-aa-o sach bahi aap karaa-i-aa.
Blessed, blessed is the Creator, the Primal Being, our Lord and Master; He Himself sits and dispenses true justice.
ਜੋ ਨਿੰਦਾ ਕਰੇ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪੂਰੇ ਕੀ ਸੋ ਸਾਚੈ ਮਾਰਿ ਪਚਾਇਆ ॥
jo nindaa karay satgur pooray kee so saachai maar pachaa-i-aa.
One who slanders the Perfect True Guru is punished and destroyed by the True Lord.
ਏਹੁ ਅਖਰੁ ਤਿਨਿ ਆਖਿਆ ਜਿਨਿ ਜਗਤੁ ਸਭੁ ਉਪਾਇਆ ॥੧॥
ayhu akhar tin aakhi-aa jin jagat sabh upaa-i-aa. ||1||
This Word is spoken by the One who created the whole universe. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In plain words
When someone sets out to spread rumors and tear another person down, the harm folds back on the one who sent it — like walking out to fling mud and returning covered in it.
Trying to blacken another's name only blackens your own; the whole thing is seen and undone.
Both this effort and its reward come to nothing — the one who plants ill-will harvests emptiness, hungry and restless.
Blessed, blessed is the Creator, the Primal One, who sits in perfect fairness and lets true justice unfold on its own.
Ill-will aimed at the Guru simply defeats itself — this is the word of the One who made the whole world.
Ill-will aimed at another is like flinging mud — it comes home on the one who threw it, no outside punishment required.
The deeper layer
When someone throws mud at another person, the mud lands on them.
This Shalok by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Guru, is one of the verses in this song about slander. Slander means spreading lies to hurt someone's name. The verse tells a story that is almost funny. A man sends someone out to spread lies about others. It all goes wrong. The two of them end up shamed in front of everyone and come home a mess. Even the people around them keep their distance.
The details are harsh, and they belong to their time. The lesson inside is simple. Ill-will comes back like a boomerang. The harm folds back on the one who sent it. It is like going out to fling mud and coming home covered in it. What you plant is what you pick.
The Creator's justice here is not a hand that hits. It is a fairness that lets what people do find its own way home. If someone is being unkind to you or hurting you, that is never something you have to accept. Telling a grown-up you trust is always the right thing to do.
A Question to Sit With
Can you think of a time when trying to make someone else look bad ended up hurting the person doing it? Why does it work that way?
