ਜੀਅ ਬਧਹੁ ਸੁ ਧਰਮੁ ਕਰਿ ਥਾਪਹੁ ਅਧਰਮੁ ਕਹਹੁ ਕਤ ਭਾਈ ॥
jee-a baDhahu so Dharam kar thaapahu aDhram kahhu kat bhaa-ee.
You kill living beings, and call it a righteous action. Tell me, brother, what would you call an unrighteous action?
ਆਪਸ ਕਉ ਮੁਨਿਵਰ ਕਰਿ ਥਾਪਹੁ ਕਾ ਕਉ ਕਹਹੁ ਕਸਾਈ ॥੨॥
aapas ka-o munivar kar thaapahu kaa ka-o kahhu kasaa-ee. ||2||
You call yourself the most excellent sage; then who would you call a butcher? ||2||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
If you take the lives of living things and call it a good deed, then tell me, brother, what would you call a bad one?
You call yourself the greatest of holy people. Then who would you call a butcher?
Calling harm holy does not make it holy.
Calling harm holy turns every label upside down. The one who takes life yet calls himself a great sage, while looking down on the butcher (a trade treated as low), has the labels exactly backwards. The dignity of the so-called lowly is quietly defended. The challenge is to self-righteous cruelty, never to any single group of people.
A Question to Sit With
Have you ever seen someone act unkindly while still thinking of themselves as one of the good people?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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