Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
It is a little foolish to spend your life begging only for comfort and pleading to be spared every pain.
Pleasure and pain are simply the two outfits everyone wears as they pass through this life and stand before the One — both come, both are part of being here. And one more piece of wisdom: when speaking up will only make things worse and cost you, that is the time to stay quiet.
This shalok gently corrects a very natural human wish — the wish to have pleasure without pain. It is absurd to ask to be spared from pain by begging for comfort. We spend so much energy pleading with life for only the good: more comfort, less hardship, all sweetness and no bitterness. Guru Nanak calls this, kindly, absurd — not because pain is good, but because the request misunderstands the very nature of being alive.
The reason is in the beautiful image that follows: pleasure and pain are the two garments given, to be worn in the Court of the Lord. Both are given — issued, like two robes, to everyone who comes into this life. You will wear both as you make your way to the One's Court; that is simply the dress code of human existence. To beg for the pleasure-garment and refuse the pain-garment is like asking to attend wearing only half your clothes. The mature soul accepts that both will be worn, and wears them with equanimity — neither clutching the pleasure nor raging at the pain, since both are passing garments and not the self underneath. This is the same steadiness the four "even then I would worship You" shaloks embodied: a love and a peace that hold through both robes.
The shalok closes with a separate, very practical grain of wisdom: where you are bound to lose by speaking, there, you ought to remain silent. Knowing when not to speak is its own kind of wisdom. There are moments when speaking up will only worsen things, inflame the ego, or cost you needlessly — and in those moments, silence is not weakness but discernment. It pairs quietly with the shalok's main theme: just as the wise soul accepts both garments without complaint, it also knows when to hold its tongue rather than add unnecessary friction to a passing situation. Equanimity within, and a wise restraint without.
Which 'garment' are you currently resisting wearing — and what would it feel like to accept it as simply part of the journey?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI