Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O Nanak, the Boat of Truth will ferry you across — think deeply on the Guru's teaching.
Some come into this world, some go. All of them filled with egotism. Through stubbornness, the intellect is drowned.
But the one who becomes Gurmukh and truthful — who turns toward what is real — is saved.
This one says that truth is a boat that carries us across, and pride is a weight that sinks us.
Naanak bayrhee sach kee taree-ai gur veechaar: "O Nanak, the boat of truth carries you across, by thinking on the Guru's teaching." The water here is the big, rough sea of life.
Ego means making "me" the center of everything. It is more than showing off. It is the habit of measuring the whole world by yourself.
Manhath matee boodee-ai: "a stubborn mind drowns good sense." Hath means digging in your heels and refusing to budge. A drowned mind can't steer.
Picture a kid on a raft who won't let go of a heavy backpack full of rocks. The raft sinks lower and lower. The rocks are "I'm right, I'm right."
Gurmukh sach so taar: "the Gurmukh, true, is carried across." A Gurmukh is someone who faces the Guru. They float because they have put the rocks down. They get across less by paddling harder and more by facing the right way.
Have you ever been so sure you were right that you refused to hear anything else — and turned out to be wrong? What did that cost you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI