Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The four great rewards people chase in life come from serving the One. Remembering the One, unseen and beyond knowing, is like the magic tree that grants every wish. The Guru cut away my grasping cravings and my flashes of anger. And the deep hope inside me finally came true.
All the things people wish for are found in serving the One and remembering the One.
Chaar padaarath are "the four great rewards," an old way of naming everything a person could want from life. The paarjaat is the wish-granting tree from old stories. Put together, they mean every wish come true. Guru Arjan does something clever with them. He says all of it comes not from getting, but from serving. Chaar padaarath har kee sayvaa means "the four rewards are in serving the One." All our rushing after things we think will complete us leads back to one place: remembering. The magic tree isn't out there somewhere. It is simran, remembering the One, and you can do that right now.
The line that matters most for everyday life is the third one. Kaam krodh kilbikh gur kaatay means "the Guru cut away the wrongs of craving and anger." Kaam is grasping desire, the wanting that grabs. Krodh is anger. They are two of the panch vikaar, the five inner troubles that bend how we see and act.
Notice who does the cutting: gur, the Guru, the true Teacher. Not your own willpower. You don't beat anger by gritting your teeth and fighting it. That usually makes it worse. Its grip loosens as the shabad, the teaching, takes hold in you. Think of a knot in a shoelace. Yank it and it gets tighter. Work it gently and it comes free. Naam, the Name of the One, weakens the hold of these troubles. You don't have to win a war against yourself.
Then the result. Pooran ho-ee aasaa means "my hope came true." When craving and anger quiet down, what was underneath can come up. We think we want what craving and anger push us toward. But under all that noise, our real aasaa, our deepest hope, was always for peace, for belonging, for the One. Loosen the knots, and that true wish is finally met.
When you're angry or really wanting something, fighting the feeling head-on rarely works. What actually helps it loosen and pass?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI