Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Don't be fooled by the bright color of the safflower — it looks beautiful, but its color only lasts a few days and then it is gone. Worthless.
The ignorant get attached to beautiful things that don't last. Like worms in manure — they live in it and die in it.
But those attuned to the Naam are dyed in the color of truth. That color never fades. They settle into Sahaj — the natural ease and intuitive peace of an aligned soul.
The color of devotional worship doesn't fade away. They remain naturally absorbed in the Lord.
Rang — color and love
The rang (color, hue, love) metaphor runs through all of Siree Raag. Here Guru Amar Das uses it in its sharpest form: comparing the safflower's color (beautiful but fugitive) to the color of the Naam (permanent).
Safflower dye was known throughout the Indian subcontinent for being brilliant but impermanent — bright orange-red initially, it fades within days in sunlight. As a metaphor for worldly attachments: vivid, appealing, and then gone. Those who invest in safflower-colored things are investing in something that will fade.
"Like worms in manure"
Jion keera mannan vich, mannan mah marai — "like worms, they live in manure, and in it, they die over and over again." A stark image: the manmukh's habitation is the manure of the ego's world — not because they are condemned to it, but because they are attached to it. They live in it, reproduce in it, and die in it. The cycle continues because they have mistaken the manure for home.
Sahaj — the color that stays
Sach rang laggā jo na utrai, sahaj rahi'ā liv lā'e — "they are dyed in the color of truth; they remain intuitively absorbed in the Lord." Sahaj is the state of natural ease, effortless alignment, the condition of the soul that has settled into its true orientation. It is not an achieved state. It is what the soul is when the distortions of ego and attachment have been released. The color of Sahaj does not fade because it is the soul's actual color.
*What is the difference between something that excites you for a few days and then loses its appeal, versus something that continues to deepen the more you engage with it? What makes that difference?*
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI