Sikhism·Raag Sorath·Shabad 7
Verse 3 of 4

A Heart Split Among Many Loves Keeps Losing

ਜਨਮ ਮਰਨ ਕਉ ਇਹੁ ਜਗੁ ਬਪੁੜੋ ਇਨਿ ਦੂਜੈ ਭਗਤਿ ਵਿਸਾਰੀ ਜੀਉ ॥
janam maran ka-o ih jag bapurho in doojai bhagat visaaree jee-o.
This wretched world is caught in birth and death; in the love of duality, it has forgotten devotional worship of the Lord.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਮਿਲੈ ਤ ਗੁਰਮਤਿ ਪਾਈਐ ਸਾਕਤ ਬਾਜੀ ਹਾਰੀ ਜੀਉ ॥੩॥
satgur milai ta gurmat paa-ee-ai saakat baajee haaree jee-o. ||3||
Meeting the True Guru, the Guru's Teachings are obtained; the faithless cynic loses the game of life. ||3||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

A life caught only in getting and losing gets pulled this way and that. Loving two things at once, it forgets the deeper love.

But meet the true teacher, and the teaching arrives. The one still turned away keeps losing a game they don't have to lose.

A heart pulled between too many loves keeps losing a game it never had to lose.
The deeper layer

This one says a heart pulled between too many loves keeps losing, but turning back is always possible.

Doojai bhagat visaaree: "loving a second thing, it forgot devotion." Doojaa bhaa-o, "love of the second," means being pulled between the One and many other things. Gurbani uses it to describe a scattered heart. It is like doing homework while three group chats keep buzzing. Nothing gets your full attention.

The verse calls the world bapurho, poor and stuck, caught in coming and going. It says the saakat, the one turned away from the One, "loses the game of life." The loss is real, but nobody has to lose. It is a game that can still be won.

And hope comes right away: satgur milai, meet the true teacher, and the teaching arrives. Losing is not fixed. It is only what happens while someone is turned away. Turning back is always open.

A Question to Sit With

What are two things that pull your attention in opposite directions — and which one matters more?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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