Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Loosen your tight grip on grabbing more and more for yourself.
In a confused time, the people who push and bully get praised and approved. Know this for what it is: a sign of a confused age.
Loosen your grip on grabbing more, and notice how a confused age rewards the wrong things.
This is the first Rahao, a "pause" line at the center of the song. Jeevan talab nivaar means "let go of your tight grip on getting."
The next line is a hard one. It says those who act like tyrants, bullies with power, are praised and get their way. Guru Nanak is seeing his time clearly. In kal, the confused age, force gets rewarded. He says this is a sign of that age.
He is not saying it is right. He is saying: notice it, and don't learn cruelty from it. On the playground, the loudest kid sometimes gets his way. That does not make being loud and mean the right way to play.
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.
Have you ever seen someone get their way by being mean? Why is it still worth being kind?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI