man mayray apnaa har sayv din raatee jo tuDh upkarai dookh sukhaasaa. ||3||
O my mind, serve your Lord, day and night; He shall help you in good times and bad. ||3||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In plain words
Many of the people around me come and go with their own reasons, and that is simply how people are.
When there is nothing in it for them, some drift away — and that is not a thing to resent, only to notice.
So I keep the One close day and night, the one help that stays steady whether my days are easy or hard.
Love people freely, but rest your deepest hope on the help that never depends on conditions.
The deeper layer
Guru Ram Das is not teaching suspicion of family and friends — love them fully. He is naming where the ground of your deepest hope can safely rest. Human care is often woven with self-interest (apnai su-aa-ay), and that is human, not wicked. The One's help has no condition attached: dookh sukhaasaa — present in sorrow and in ease alike.
A Question to Sit With
Who has stayed steady with you through both good times and hard ones?
