Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O my mind, you are full of the dirt of ego.
The spotless Lord is always beautiful. We are made beautiful by the Word of the Shabad.
This is the pause line, the Rahao, the center of the song. It gives an honest check-up of the mind, and then the cure.
Man mayray ha-umai mail bhar naal — O my mind, you are full of the dirt of ha-umai, the ego. Other verses in this song name what burns in such a mind day and night: kaam, grabby wanting, and krodh, anger. Guru Amar Das is not exaggerating. He is like a doctor telling you plainly what is wrong.
Har nirmal sadaa sohnaa — the Lord is spotless and always beautiful. Sabad savaaranhaar — the Shabad, the Word, is what makes us beautiful too.
So the Word is the medicine. And the True Guru is the one who gives it. The Guru does not only tell you what is wrong and write the prescription. The Guru also sits with you and helps you take it.
Think of a kind nurse who stays beside a sick child, spoon in hand, until the medicine is swallowed. The medicine is already here. We just have to take it, again and again, the way you keep taking medicine until you are well.
What does your mind burn most reliably in? Desire for something specific? Anger at someone or something? Can you name it honestly? And what do you actually do about it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI