Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
By great good luck, the One brought me to an awakened heart.
The Perfect Guru placed that sweet taste right into my mouth.
But the unlucky ones, who listen only to their own ego, never find the true teacher. They keep going around and around, born again and again into the same struggle, never arriving.
This verse compares two kinds of people: one who turns toward the Guru and tastes the sweetness, and one who turns toward the self and keeps going in circles.
Guru Ram Das uses two words often in these songs. A gurmukh has their face turned toward the Guru's light. A manmukh has their face turned toward their own ego. The lucky seeker (vadbhaagee) is led to a saint, and the Perfect Guru puts the ras, the sweet taste, right into her mouth. Notice she doesn't grab it. It is placed there. It's a gift, like a parent feeding a spoonful to a child.
The bhaagheen, the unlucky ones, and the manmukh aren't called wicked. They're called stuck. "Garabh joonee nit pa-udaa" — they keep falling back into the womb, born again and again. This is the wheel of rebirth. It can also mean living the same mistakes on repeat, never breaking through. Think of a video game where you keep losing at the same level because you won't try a new move. The manmukh stays in the loop because, looking only inward at the ego, they can't take the help being offered from outside.
Here's the hopeful part. Gurmukh and manmukh are directions, not labels stuck on people forever. The difference isn't how smart or good someone is. It's which way their face is turned. And even turning around is something grace helps with. So the verse is a warning and an invitation at once. The loop is real, but it can be broken.
Can you think of a pattern in your own life that keeps repeating? What might it take to finally break out of the loop?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI