Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Without something real at the center, we wander and somehow come up short even when we seem to be gaining.
A mind run only by ego works away in a kind of darkness, unable to see clearly.
Nanak says: those who turn toward the Guru drink deeply of the sweetness within, by reflecting on the Word.
Without the Naam, a life runs at a loss, however much it seems to gain.
A compact shalok of Guru Amar Das. nit jag totaa saisaar — a striking economic image: a life without the Name runs at a constant loss, no matter how much it appears to gather. ha-umai anDh gubaar — ego is a 'pitch-black darkness' not as a curse but as an inability to see clearly, the disease-frame again. The bright counter is gurmukh amrit peevnaa — those turned toward the teaching drink the nectar, sabad veechaar, by contemplating the Word. The teaching for a child: real gain is measured inside, and it is possible to 'win' at everything outward and still feel empty.
Can you think of a time you got what you wanted but it did not feel like a real win?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI