Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The life of one who follows only his own mind goes to waste. He comes and goes in shame.
Proud people drown in strong wanting and anger. They burn up in their "me, me, me."
They gain no wisdom and no understanding, and their thinking grows dim. Tossed by the waves of greed, they suffer.
Without the Guru, they suffer terrible pain. When death takes hold of them, they cry and wail.
When we live only from our small self, life gets tossed around like a boat on rough water.
The verse describes the manmukh, the person led only by the small self. Kaam kroDh doobay abhimaanee: the proud drown in kaam, strong desire, and kroDh, anger. They burn in ha-umai, ego.
Lobh lahar dukh paa-ee: tossed by the lahar, the waves, of lobh, greed, they suffer. Greed and anger cloud the mind, like fog on a car window.
The verse ends with a hard picture. Jam pakray billaa-ee: without the Guru, a person is seized by jam, the messenger of death, and cries out. It is a stark way of saying how painful life can feel far from the Guru.
The ache is named honestly. That same ache is what can turn us back toward home.
When a hard feeling comes, can it sometimes point you back toward what you need?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI