Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Running other people down, you ruin yourself completely; because of what you have done, you are sent back to be born again and again.
What you have done does not just go away, and a fearsome death comes to take hold of you.
Running others down harms the one who does it. What we do stays with us and comes back around, like an echo off a canyon wall.
This is one of Guru Arjan's verses about nindaa, slander. The images are strong on purpose: being born again and again, and the messenger of death, show how seriously Gurbani takes cruel words about others.
If someone is being unkind to you or hurting you, that is never something you have to accept. Telling a grown-up you trust is always the right thing to do.
When you let go of a grudge, what did it free up in you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI