Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
We are each drawn along by what we do and what we long for, the way a gentle guide leads a creature by the hand.
And wherever your real nourishment waits for you, that is where you will end up eating. That is simply how life works.
This short Shalok (Mehl 2, Guru Angad) uses the image of a creature led by a cord — a picture the source draws from oxen. Rather than a harsh picture of being yanked about, it is read gently: our own kirat (the shape of our deeds and longings) draws us, and jahaa daanay tahaa khaanay — "where the grain is, there one eats." The teaching is quietly reassuring: you tend to be led toward whatever truly nourishes you. It pairs with the preceding Shalok on hukam — the same flow of existence, felt as gentle guidance rather than control.
What are the things you find yourself drawn toward again and again? Are they the things that really nourish you, or just the ones that shine the brightest?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI