Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When someone lives out of step with what is true, they end up restless and unsettled, never quite at home anywhere.
Living in lies has a way of catching up with a person — the more they twist the truth, the less anyone wants to be near them.
Wherever they go, their falseness goes too, and it pleases no one.
So look closely, friends, and see how life really works: the way you treat the world is the way the world comes back to you. As you act, so you receive.
This is simply how things are — as sure and steady as any law of nature.
As you act, so you receive: living in lies makes a person restless and unwelcome.
This verse by Guru Ram Das begins with frightening pictures. A person who turns against the True Guru wanders from home, is laughed at, and comes to a hard end. The verse even asks what anyone can do, since this is where their own deeds led.
Then it says its lesson out loud. Jaisaa ko-ee karai taisaa ko-ee paavai means as someone acts, so they receive. This is not a curse sent from above. It is how things work. Jithai oh jaa-ay tithai oh jhoothaa: wherever they go, they are false, and kisai na bhaavai, no one likes it. Think of a friend who keeps telling lies. Soon nobody believes anything they say.
Guru Ram Das calls this barahm beechaar, a truth about how the world itself is built.
Can you think of a time when being unkind or dishonest came back around on someone? And a time when kindness came back around? What does that tell you about how to act?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI