Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The one who faces only their own ego wanders off, ruined by loving "the second thing," whatever feels separate from the One.
They never take up the Name, and so they slowly die, as if eating poison instead of nectar.
Day after day they sit in the muck. Without serving, without ever turning toward the light, a whole precious life slips away unused.
This verse shows the other path: someone who turns away from the One and drinks poison instead of nectar.
After five verses of sweetness, the song shows the other choice. It isn't there to condemn anyone. It's there to make the choice clear. The nectar rains gently on everyone. But the manmukh, the one facing only their own ego, is "bhoolaa," wandered off. "Doojai bhaa-ay khu-aa-ay" — ruined by love of the second thing. Doojaa bhaa-o means loving things as if they were apart from the One. Right under a sky full of free nectar, they're drinking something else.
The sharpest picture is this. "Naam na layvai marai bikh khaa-ay" — not taking the Name, they die eating poison. Bikh means poison. The whole song has been about amrit, the drink of life. Here is its opposite. And the sad part is that both cups are always within reach. The manmukh isn't being punished by an angry God. They're just drinking from the wrong cup: grabbing, grudges, loving separate things. That diet slowly drains the life out of a life. It's like living on candy and soda. It doesn't knock you down in a day, but it wears you out.
"Vistaa meh vaasaa" — they sit in manure. That sounds harsh. But an earlier song in this raag uses a worm in the muck as a picture of pity, not disgust. With their face turned from the light, they can't even see the clean sky right above them. The real heartbreak is the last line. "Bin sayvaa janam gavaavni-aa" — without sayvaa, serving others, a whole life is wasted. The deepest sorrow here isn't punishment. It's waste: a precious human life spent drinking poison in the dark. The verse isn't a threat. It's an alarm clock. Both cups are right here. Which one will you drink from?
What are some "poisons" — habits or feelings — that go down easy but slowly drain the life out of you? And what's the nectar right beside them?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI