Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Nanak says to himself: you alone are the foolish one; all the rest of the world is good.
The body where the Naam does not spring up — that body ends up wretched and unhappy.
Be strict with your own foolishness and see the good in everyone else.
The closing lines carry Guru Nanak's signature humility: Naanak moorakh ayk too, avar bhalaa saisaar, only I am foolish, all the rest of the world is good. Moorakh here is the deliberate taking of the low seat, a spiritual practice of being strict with one's own faults and generous toward everyone else's, with no self-hatred in it. Jit tan naam na oopjai pictures the Naam welling up like a spring (oopjai, to rise or sprout); where it does not, life turns khu-aar, worn, wretched and dry, like a field with no water.
Why is it easier to see other people's mistakes than your own, and what changes if you flip it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI