Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The one who faces only their own ego is blind, with no real understanding. They quietly harm their own soul and act harshly toward the world around them. By constantly tearing other people down with their words, they pile up a heavy load on their own back — hauling other people's faults around like a sack of bricks they were never even paid to carry.
This verse says that running other people down is a heavy load you carry for nothing.
It is the mirror image of the calm gurmukh in the last verse, and it is drawn sharply on purpose. The manmukh is someone facing their own ego instead of the light. Manmukh andhay sudh na kaa-ee means "the self-willed are blind, with no understanding at all." Not blind in the eyes, but unable to see what matters. Cut off from the One, they have lost track of what life is for.
From that blindness, harm flows two ways. Aatam ghaatee means they harm their own soul. Jagat kasaa-ee means they act like a butcher toward the world. The unkindness aimed outward and the hurt done inward are the same sickness. The person who is hardest on others is often, secretly, hardest on themselves.
The most useful picture is in the last line. Nindaa kar kar baho bhaar uthaavai means "by slandering again and again, they lift a heavy load." Nindaa means putting others down: gossip, mean talk behind someone's back. Think about what that really is. You spend your energy carrying other people's faults around, real or made up, turning them over in your mouth and your mind. Guru Amar Das pictures it as actual work, like hauling a sack of bricks all day.
And here is the bitter ending. Bin majooree bhaar pahuchaavani-aa means "they carry the load without any pay." Nobody asked you to. Nobody pays you. At the end you are just tired and dusty from a load that was never yours.
This fits everyday life at school: the gossip, the putting others down to feel bigger. The lesson isn't mainly "that's naughty." It is "that's a terrible deal." You do hard, ugly work and get nothing back but a heavier heart. The gurmukh of the last verse was light and safe. The manmukh here is bent over under a load they chose to pick up. Put the sack down, and you can stand up straight again.
If someone is being unkind to you or hurting you, that is never something you have to accept. Telling a grown-up you trust is always the right thing to do.
The next time you're tempted to tear someone down, can you feel how it's really just picking up a heavy load you'll have to carry?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI