Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
What a waste, to throw away the peace of the Name and take on the ache of ego and wrongdoing instead.
Lost in love of the glitter, the self-centered have no understanding; here and beyond they find no peace, and leave full of regret. But by grace one holds the Name, and ego departs; Nanak says, the one with such destiny comes and falls at the teaching's feet.
The Shalok laments a bad trade: throwing away "the peace of the Lord's Name" and picking up "pain instead by practicing ego and sin." It is the Vaar's recurring grief — that people trade the free peace on offer for the ache of the grasping self. But it does not end in condemnation: "by Guru's Grace, one may meditate... and egotism departs." The door stays open; the graced one "falls at the Guru's Feet."
Have you ever traded a real peace for the 'ache of ego'? What would trading back look like?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI