Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The one who faces the Guru works hard, earns honestly, and helps others remember the Name.
They stay light and unstuck, colored with the True One's love, moving with the Guru's easy grace.
Someone who follows only their own wants keeps telling lies. They plant bitter seeds and eat bitter fruit.
Caught in the grip of time and burning with endless wanting, who can set them free except the Guru?
You can be busy and useful in the world and still stay free inside.
Gurmukh ghaalay, gurmukh khatay, gurmukh naam japaa-ay — the one who faces the Guru works hard, earns an honest living, and helps others remember the Name.
Sadaa alipat — they are always alipat, unstuck, the way a lotus sits on the water without getting soaked. Gur kai sahj subhaa-ay — they live in sahaj, the natural ease the Guru gives. They are fully in life, yet free.
The manmukh, who follows only their own wants, keeps telling lies. They plant bitter seeds and eat bitter fruit. The verse pictures them caught by jamkaal, the grip of death, and trisnaa daadhaa, burned by the fire of craving. Trisnaa is a thirst that is never satisfied.
Then the verse asks, who can set them free except the Guru? The weight falls on the rescue. There is always a way out, and it is turning to the Guru.
How can you be really involved in something without letting it own you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI