Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The self-willed manmukhs are engrossed in emotional attachment. They are not balanced or detached.
They don't comprehend the Word of the teaching. They suffer in pain forever and lose their honor in the Court of the Lord.
The Gurmukhs shed their ego. Tuned to the Name, they find peace.
Guru Amar Das says that people who cling tightly to everything around them never feel settled. Those who let go of their ego find peace.
Manmukh means someone who follows only their own wants. Manmukh mohi vi-aapi-aa means the manmukh is caught up in moh, clinging attachment. Bairaag udaasee na ho-ay means they are not balanced or free inside.
Udaasee is a word Guru Amar Das uses often in Siree Raag. It does not mean sad or withdrawn. It means not stuck. You can do everything fully without being controlled by it.
Think of playing a video game. You can play with your whole heart. But if the game starts running your whole day, it is playing you.
The manmukh has the opposite problem. They are so pulled by what they are in that they lose sight of everything else. Ha-umai gurmukh kho-ee-ai means the gurmukh, one who faces the Guru, lets go of ha-umai, the ego. They are fully present, without being owned by anything.
Is there a relationship or situation in your life where you're so attached you've lost your own perspective? What would it feel like to love it from a position of greater freedom?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI