Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Discarding the Ambrosial Nectar, they greedily grab the poison. They serve others instead of the Lord.
They lose their faith. They have no understanding. Night and day they suffer in pain.
The blind, self-willed ones do not think of the Lord. They drown with no water at all.
This verse is about people who push away what is good for them and grab what harms them.
Amrit chhod bikhi-aa lobhaanay — they drop the amrit (sweet, life-giving nectar) and greedily reach for bikhi-aa (poison). Picture a kid who pushes away a warm, home-cooked dinner to grab a bag of candy from the drawer. The good food was right there. They knew it was there. They reached past it anyway.
That is what makes this sad. It is not about someone who never saw the good thing. It is about someone who tasted it and still chose the other.
Sayvaa karahi vidaanee means they serve others instead of the One. In Guru Amar Das's time, that meant serving greedy local rulers, landlords and priests who had lost their way. In any time, it can mean serving our own pride, our wish to look important, or our need for everyone's approval.
A manmukh is someone who follows only their own wants. The verse says they "drown without water." Nothing outside is pulling them under. It is their own choices that weigh them down.
Is there something genuinely nourishing in your life that you keep setting aside to pursue something that ultimately doesn't satisfy? What would it take to stop doing that?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI