Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Sometimes it can feel as if difficulty is woven right through life. It is hard at the start, hard along the way, hard in ways we cannot always explain. You can open up every package of trouble looking for comfort and still not find it there.
Nanak says: when your heart fills with praise for the One, your mind and body grow green and alive again, like a plant after rain. And here is the strangest, kindest truth. The very pain you wanted to escape can become the medicine that heals you, if it teaches you where to turn.
Life has much pain in it, praise makes us bloom, and even pain can become medicine.
It is a shalok, a short verse, by Guru Nanak. First he speaks honestly about how hard life can be. There is pain at the start, pain along the way, and pain when we leave. People open up every package of trouble looking for comfort there, and they do not find it.
Then come two bright turns. Siftee rati-aa man tan hari-aa ho-ay — when the heart is filled with praise for the One, mind and body turn green and alive again. It is like a dry garden after rain.
And then the surprise: bhee dukh daaroo ho-ay — pain can also be the cure. Pain can carry a message. Think of a sore ankle that tells you to rest it so it can heal. When pain shows us where to turn, it becomes medicine.
Can you think of a hard time that ended up teaching you something you needed?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI