Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When love for family and friends hardens into clinging — into needing to own and control — it pulls you away from what matters most. Let that clinging go.
A heart with no room for the One inside gets torn in two directions and loses its way.
Loving your family is good, but clinging to them so tightly that you forget the One pulls you off course.
This verse is not against family. Guru Nanak loved his family and his community all his life.
The problem here is moh, clingy attachment. "Maa-i-aa moh pasaaree" means attachment that keeps spreading, until there is no room left for the One. The word jaara-o means burn away. What gets burned away is the clinging, never the people.
Think of holding a bird in your hand. Hold it gently, and it is safe and happy. Squeeze too hard, and you hurt the very thing you love.
Dubidhaa means a mind split in two, pulled in two directions at once.
What is the difference between loving someone and needing to control them?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI