Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The one who does not serve the True Guru with an easy heart wastes life inside the "me, me" of ego.
Their tongue never tastes the sweetness of the One, and the lotus of the heart never opens.
The one who follows only their own mind eats poison and dies, ruined by clinging to Maya, the pull of the world.
Without the Naam of the One, that life is a curse, and that home is a curse.
But when the True One gives the glance of grace, a person becomes a servant of the One's servants.
Then, day and night, they serve the True Guru and never leave the Guru's side.
As a lotus floats in the water and stays dry, they live in their own home and stay free inside.
Servant Nanak says: the One acts and helps everyone act, just as the One wishes; the One is a treasure of goodness.
You can live a busy, ordinary home life and still stay pure inside, like a lotus on a pond.
First he shows the closed heart. When the mind is wrapped up in ha-umai, the "me, me" of ego, life gets wasted. The tongue never tastes the sweetness of the One. The kamal, the lotus of the heart, never opens. A manmukh, someone who follows only their own mind, gets tangled in Maya, the pull of the world.
Then grace changes everything. When the True One gives the glance of grace, a person becomes daasan daas, a servant of the One's servants. That is humility, choosing to serve rather than to be important. Day and night they stay close to the Guru.
Then comes the big picture. Ji-o jal meh kamal alipato means "as a lotus stays untouched in the water." A lotus grows up out of a muddy pond, yet its petals stay clean and dry. Vichay girah udaas means "living right in the home, yet free inside." Think of a kid who is part of a noisy, busy family, doing chores and homework, and still stays kind and calm. That is the Sikh way. Holiness is lived inside ordinary family life, not away from it.
How do you stay yourself in the middle of a busy, messy day?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI