What you gain by hurting others cannot be kept — and an unkind word wounds the one who throws it most.
The Arc
Some things look great going down and leave you worse off. A whole bag of chips at midnight. An hour of scrolling that leaves your eyes sore. Eat that way long enough and everything feels tired: eyes, ears, body. Your time here is short, and it is precious. Getting ahead by pushing poorer people down works the same way. It fills you up for a moment, and none of it goes with you. You feel sorry, then do it again. Unkind words are like that too. You throw them at someone else, and they land inside you. So look first, and pick what feeds you. At the centre, the Rahao: poison swallowed without looking wears out eyes, ears and body, and the breath is short.
Key Vocabulary
bisoo — poison; the things that look good but harm us.
anaath ranjan — making the helpless and poor suffer.
pachhutaavahi — repeated regret; the honest signal that change is due.
nindak — the one who tears others down.
kilbikh — the mistakes we keep repeating.
Themes and Cross-Connections
The care-for-the-poor note foregrounds the tradition's justice: ill-gotten gain is both wrong and worthless. The teaching that slander rebounds onto the speaker connects to the raag's recurring inward turn — outward harm, like outward chasing, comes back to the one who sends it.
For Raag Saarang
Beneath Saarang's longing runs a moral clarity: the heart that reaches for the One is also the heart that stops feeding on others. Longing and kindness turn out to be the same movement.
Translation Notes
Jamdootee aa-ay sanghaari-o pictures Death's messenger striking the slanderer down, and aapan kataaree aapas ka-o laa-ee pictures a weapon that turns back on the one holding it: unkindness wounds the one who uses it. AnDhay, blind, describes someone gulping things down without looking.
Hukumnama
Subject: Look before you swallow what harms you Preview: loads of poison, tired eyes and ears, a belly filled at the poor's expense, a dagger turned back.
Today: Some things look great going down and leave you worse off. A whole bag of chips at midnight. An hour of scrolling that leaves your eyes sore. Eat that way long enough and everything feels tired: eyes, ears, body. Your time here is short, and it is precious. Getting ahead by pushing poorer people down works the same way. It fills you up for a moment, and none of it goes with you. You feel sorry, then do it again. Unkind words are like that too. You throw them at someone else, and they land inside you. So look first, and pick what feeds you.
Look before you swallow, and choose what feeds you.
For today: Before you grab a snack, a screen or a sharp word today, pause and pick the kinder choice.
What you gain by hurting others cannot be kept — and an unkind word wounds the one who throws it most.
The Arc
Some things look great going down and leave you worse off. A whole bag of chips at midnight. An hour of scrolling that leaves your eyes sore. Eat that way long enough and everything feels tired: eyes, ears, body. Your time here is short, and it is precious. Getting ahead by pushing poorer people down works the same way. It fills you up for a moment, and none of it goes with you. You feel sorry, then do it again. Unkind words are like that too. You throw them at someone else, and they land inside you. So look first, and pick what feeds you. At the centre, the Rahao: poison swallowed without looking wears out eyes, ears and body, and the breath is short.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The care-for-the-poor note foregrounds the tradition's justice: ill-gotten gain is both wrong and worthless. The teaching that slander rebounds onto the speaker connects to the raag's recurring inward turn — outward harm, like outward chasing, comes back to the one who sends it.
For Raag Saarang
Beneath Saarang's longing runs a moral clarity: the heart that reaches for the One is also the heart that stops feeding on others. Longing and kindness turn out to be the same movement.
Translation Notes
Jamdootee aa-ay sanghaari-o pictures Death's messenger striking the slanderer down, and aapan kataaree aapas ka-o laa-ee pictures a weapon that turns back on the one holding it: unkindness wounds the one who uses it. AnDhay, blind, describes someone gulping things down without looking.
Hukumnama
Subject: Look before you swallow what harms you Preview: loads of poison, tired eyes and ears, a belly filled at the poor's expense, a dagger turned back.
Today: Some things look great going down and leave you worse off. A whole bag of chips at midnight. An hour of scrolling that leaves your eyes sore. Eat that way long enough and everything feels tired: eyes, ears, body. Your time here is short, and it is precious. Getting ahead by pushing poorer people down works the same way. It fills you up for a moment, and none of it goes with you. You feel sorry, then do it again. Unkind words are like that too. You throw them at someone else, and they land inside you. So look first, and pick what feeds you.
Look before you swallow, and choose what feeds you.
For today: Before you grab a snack, a screen or a sharp word today, pause and pick the kinder choice.