Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Emotional attachment to Maya is created by God Himself. He Himself misleads us through illusion and doubt.
The manmukhs perform their actions but don't understand. They waste their lives in vain.
Gurbani is the Light to illuminate this world. By His Grace, it comes to abide within the mind.
This line says: God made the world's pull on us, and God also gave the Guru's Word as a light to find our way.
Maa-i-aa moh mayrai prabh keenaa: my God made maa-i-aa moh. Maya is the shiny, busy world of things, and moh is getting stuck to it. Aapay bharam bhulaa-ay: He Himself lets us wander in bharam, confusion and doubt.
That is a bold opening. There is no separate evil power here. The same One who frees us also made the things that can trap us. He is the Maker of the knot and of the untying.
Manmukh karam karahi nahee boojheh: the manmukh, the person who follows only their own wants, keeps busy but never understands. Birthaa janam gavaa-ay: they let their life slip away for nothing. The difference between people is not who is inside God's world. Everyone is. It is which way they face: toward "me first," or toward the Guru.
Gurbaanee is jag meh chaanan: Gurbani, the Guru's Word, is the chaanan, the light, in this world. Karam vasai man aa-ay: by His karam, His kindness, it comes to live in the mind.
Think of a maze in the dark. The One who built the maze also hands you a flashlight.
Does it change anything for you to think of life's confusion and difficulty as something built into the design rather than as a mistake — and if so, what?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI