Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
No matter how hard he tries, he cannot hold his body's urges in check by force.
His mind wobbles, and he falls into a place of deep suffering.
Tied up in the city of Death, he is punished.
Without the Naam, the soul burns and cries out.
Willpower alone cannot make the mind hold still, and a mind without the Naam suffers.
Some yogis tried to master the body completely by force, holding back every bodily urge. A person can try and try, jatan karai, and still it does not work. Manoo-aa dolai means the mind keeps shaking, like a spinning top about to tip over.
The pictures that follow are strong ones: narak, a place of suffering, and jam pur, the city of Death, where a person is tied up and punished. They show how heavy life feels when the mind is pulled about with nothing steady to hold. Think of trying to fall asleep by ordering yourself to sleep. The harder you push, the more awake and miserable you feel.
Bin naavai jee-o jal bal jaa-ee — without the Name, the soul burns. The whole shabad points to what steadies it: remembering the One.
What helps you settle when your mind will not sit still?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI