Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A person could visit every sacred place and honor every holy stone.
They could dig wells and pools for others to drink from.
Yet if their words tear other people down, all that good quietly drains away.
Ravidas says that cruel words can cancel out even the biggest good deeds.
He lines up the good works people admired most. A person might visit all sixty-eight athsath tirath, the holy bathing places. They might worship the twelve sacred stones. They might dig wells and ponds so others can drink. Then Ravidas sets one habit against all of it: nind, which means running people down behind their backs. Karai nind sabh birthaa jaavai — if a person runs others down, all of it goes to waste.
Picture filling a bucket that has a hole in the bottom. You can pour in as much water as you like. It still drains away. A heart full of ill-will is like that hole. The good deeds on the outside cannot outrun the harm on the inside.
Why might unkind words undo the good someone does in other ways?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI