Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In good company the busy tangles of the world just fall away. The sorrows get carried off.
Money's comforts and all the little pleasures of the self — without the One at the center, Nanak says, know them for the empty things they are.
This one says that pleasures cut off from the center are hollow.
The verse compares two things. First, good company. Saadhoo sangat mitay bisoor — in the company of the wise, sorrow is wiped away. DhanDh banDh binsay maa-i-aa kay — the busy tangles of maya, the world's glitter, disappear. Being with people turned toward the One loosens knots. A lonely, grabbing mind only ties them tighter.
Second, comfort and wealth without the One. Bin har naanak jaanay koor — without the One, know them to be koor, false. That doesn't mean pleasure is evil. It means pleasure is hollow when it's cut off from the center. "False" here means unable to fill you. Think of a chocolate bunny that turns out to be hollow inside. It looked big, but there wasn't much there.
It's a diagnosis, not a scolding. Don't be surprised when the empty thing leaves you empty.
Have you had something 'fun' that still left you feeling empty afterward? What makes the difference?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI