Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The wrong-headed person keeps doing fruitless things, all puffed up with pride.
When he hauls home what he got by cheating and lying, he thinks he has conquered the world.
Ram Das sketches the self-deceived striver: "puffed up with pride," doing "fruitless deeds," and — the sharp irony — imagining that dishonest gains mean "he has conquered the world." The delusion is double: the deeds are empty, and the very success feels like triumph. It is a portrait of a life winning at the wrong game and congratulating itself. The shabad holds it up not with contempt but as a mirror.
Is there a 'win' you chase that might feel like conquering the world but leaves the real thing untouched?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI