ਮਨਮੁਖ ਹੀਅਰਾ ਅਤਿ ਕਠੋਰੁ ਹੈ ਤਿਨ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਕਾਰ ਕਰੀਠਾ ॥
manmukh hee-araa at kathor hai tin antar kaar kareethaa.
The hearts of the self-willed manmukhs are hard and cruel; their inner beings are dark.
ਬਿਸੀਅਰ ਕਉ ਬਹੁ ਦੂਧੁ ਪੀਆਈਐ ਬਿਖੁ ਨਿਕਸੈ ਫੋਲਿ ਫੁਲੀਠਾ ॥੩॥
bisee-ar ka-o baho dooDh pee-aa-ee-ai bikh niksai fol futheelaa. ||3||
Even if the poisonous snake is fed large amounts of milk, it will still yield only poison. ||3||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The hearts of the self-facing are hard and harsh, dark inside. Even if you feed a poisonous snake great quantities of milk, it will still give back only poison.
A heart hardened by ego can return only poison, however it is fed -- until grace changes it.
A stark image of fixed self-facing nature: the snake fed milk still yields poison -- kindness to a closed, ego-hardened heart does not by itself transform it. Note: this describes the orientation of a hardened heart, not a fixed verdict on a person; what the snake's nature cannot do, grace and the Guru still can (cf. the next verse's plea). The point is sober realism about how deep the hardening can go.
A Question to Sit With
Have you seen kindness fail to soften someone? What might actually reach them?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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