ਨਿੰਦਾ ਭਲੀ ਕਿਸੈ ਕੀ ਨਾਹੀ ਮਨਮੁਖ ਮੁਗਧ ਕਰੰਨਿ ॥
nindaa bhalee kisai kee naahee manmukh mugaDh karann.
It is not good to slander anyone, but the foolish, self-willed manmukhs still do it.
ਮੁਹ ਕਾਲੇ ਤਿਨ ਨਿੰਦਕਾ ਨਰਕੇ ਘੋਰਿ ਪਵੰਨਿ ॥੬॥
muh kaalay tin nindkaa narkay ghor pavann. ||6||
The faces of the slanderers turn black, and they fall into the most horrible hell. ||6||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Running someone down behind their back never actually makes anything better — it only spreads a little more meanness into the world.
And the person it hardens most is me. When I speak ill of others, it's my own heart that goes cold and heavy. So I'd rather not.
Tearing others down hardens your own heart most.
nindaa bhalee kisai kee naahee — slander is good for no one. The blackened-face and hell imagery of the original is dropped per wellbeing rules; the enduring point is that slander harms, above all, the heart of the one who speaks it.
A Question to Sit With
What could you say instead, next time you're tempted to run someone down?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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