Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Sometimes a heart can feel so closed that no amount of kindness poured in seems to reach it — like watering a stone and waiting for it to grow soft. Anyone can get stuck in that hard place for a while.
But no heart is stone forever. Nanak asks the One: join me with the Sangat, and all the poison drains away. Among people who remember the One together, the hardness quietly melts. So the invitation is simple: come to the Sangat, and let yourself be softened.
A closed heart can stay hard for a while, and the Sangat softens it.
Nimm birakh baho sanchee-ai amrit ras — you can water a bitter neem tree with nectar, or feed a snake plenty of milk, and they stay as they are. Manmukh abhinn na bhij-ee — a self-willed heart can be like that too, a stone that stays dry however long it is washed. That is a place anyone can get stuck in, and anyone can leave.
Naanak sangat mayl har sabh bikh leh jaa-i-aa — join me with the Sangat, and all the poison is gone. Think of a cold stone set in the sun among warm stones. Slowly, it warms up too.
When you feel closed off or stubborn, how could time in the Sangat help you soften?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI