No pilgrimage or sacrifice outweighs a heart free of ill-will; slander empties out even the finest deeds and exposes itself.
The Arc
The closing shabad of the whole Raag Gond section. Ravidas weighs the grandest pious acts against one corrosive habit — slander — and shows that ill-will defeats itself.
P0 shrines, sacred stones, wells and pools — all drain away if one slanders.
The Rahau (P1) a heart set on tearing others down cannot cross into peace.
P2 the costliest sacrifice and all the scriptures still count for nothing beside cruelty of speech.
P3 feasts, land, buildings, selfless service — all drained by an unkind tongue.
P4 why slander at all? Ill-will exposes itself; choose blessing and find your way home.
Key Vocabulary
nind / nindak — slander, tearing others down / the slanderer.
athsath tirath — the sixty-eight places of pilgrimage.
nindak kaa pargat paahaaraa — the slanderer's emptiness laid bare.
Themes and Cross-Connections
Ill-will as self-defeating — a recurring Gurbani insight (the harm circles back on its sender). No outer merit can cover an inner cruelty. The shabad also completes a bookend: the raag opened (Guru Ram Das, B00C1918) on rightly-placed hope and closes here on rightly-guarded speech — both about where the heart is aimed. Ties to philosophy.md on truthful living (sach) as the most real thing.
For Raag Gond
As the raag's final shabad, its warmth turns the warning into an invitation: set the ill-will down and bless instead.
Translation Notes
Hell imagery dropped throughout (P1, P4): the literal consignment of the slanderer to a place of torment is carried as ill-will-defeats-itself — fencing in its own owner, unable to reach the peace it destroys. No torture or afterlife-terror imagery, per wellbeing rules.
Wife-as-offering dropped (P2): the literal give-his-wife-in-offering is set aside; a person is never a thing to be offered. Rendered as give away what they treasure most.
Endless-wandering (P3) bent from cosmic punishment toward its felt truth: cruelty leaves a person unfinished, never arriving at peace.
Closed on hope (P4): ends on the turning toward blessing, not condemnation.
Raag closer: noted as the final shabad of Raag Gond, bookending the opener's rightly-placed hope.
No pilgrimage or sacrifice outweighs a heart free of ill-will; slander empties out even the finest deeds and exposes itself.
The Arc
The closing shabad of the whole Raag Gond section. Ravidas weighs the grandest pious acts against one corrosive habit — slander — and shows that ill-will defeats itself.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Ill-will as self-defeating — a recurring Gurbani insight (the harm circles back on its sender). No outer merit can cover an inner cruelty. The shabad also completes a bookend: the raag opened (Guru Ram Das, B00C1918) on rightly-placed hope and closes here on rightly-guarded speech — both about where the heart is aimed. Ties to philosophy.md on truthful living (sach) as the most real thing.
For Raag Gond
As the raag's final shabad, its warmth turns the warning into an invitation: set the ill-will down and bless instead.
Translation Notes
Last updated: 2026-07-09