Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Even the brave and strong can't hold out against the overwhelming army the five passions have gathered.
The ten senses drag even would-be renunciates back to their pleasures; the passions keep conquering and recruiting. The whole world of the three moods is under their sway; no one stands against them. So how can the fort of doubt and the moat of the glitter be crossed? By worshipping the perfect teaching, this terrible force is subdued. So I stand before it, day and night, palms pressed together.
The fifteenth Pauree is honest about how powerful the passions are — an "army" even "brave and mighty men cannot withstand," dragging back "even detached renunciates." This realism matters: the Vaar does not pretend the compulsions are weak or easily willed away. And precisely because they are too strong for us alone, the answer is not more willpower but the teaching: "worshipping the Perfect Guru, this awesome force is subdued." What we cannot conquer, grace can.
What have you tried to overpower by willpower and lost? What might it mean to ask for help instead?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI