Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Earn a thousand, and you find yourself running after a hundred thousand. The chase has no finish line built into it.
Pile pleasure on pleasure - still unsatisfied, indulging again and again, wearing yourself down to the end.
Without contentment inside, no pile is ever high enough - it is all chasing things inside a dream.
Love for the Name is where all peace lives - and the fortunate few who receive it rest. The One behind all causes does all. Nanak says: keep the Name, forever and ever.
Being satisfied is something inside you, more than any amount you own.
Sahas khatay lakh ka-o uth Dhaavai — earning a thousand, a person runs after a hundred thousand. This is Gurbani's clear lesson about wanting. Being satisfied is not waiting at some point on the earnings chart. The wanting grows as the getting grows. Trisnaa is this thirst that grows by drinking. An earlier song of Sukhmani found the same thing in unhappy kings.
Then comes a dream. Supan manorath barithay sabh kaajai — like wishes in a dream, all the effort is wasted. The money is not unreal. But chasing things in order to feel content is a dream-errand. It is like running to fill a bucket that only exists in a dream.
The key word is santokh, contentment. Binaa santokh nahee ko-oo raajai — without contentment, no one is full. That sounds obvious, until you see its edge. Being satisfied is an inner ability, like a muscle. It is not a number in a bank. A person without it cannot be filled by any amount. A person with it needs almost nothing. Think of a phone with a broken charging port. You can plug it in all night, and it never fills.
Think of the last thing you wanted badly and finally got. How long did the satisfaction last - and what did you want next?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI