Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Tearing down the good twists the tearer's own face into a permanent scowl - their voice turns to croaking.
It coils them like a snake, shrinks them like a worm. It leaves them burning with wanting, scheming against everyone.
Their influence dries up. They sink to the lowest place, and can find nowhere to rest.
And yet - if it pleases the Saint, even then, they may be saved.
This one says envy is really wanting in disguise.
This verse is a gallery of animals: a crow, a snake, a worm. They are pictures of what goes on inside, wearing animal masks. Sukhmani has used this way of speaking before.
Santan kai dookhan kaag ji-o lavai — slandering the saints, one croaks like a kaag, a crow or raven. That is a voice that has lost its sweetness, because it is only used for pecking at others. The snake is coiled, hidden, and ready to strike. That is exactly how the slanderer waits. The worm is how small a soul shrinks when its whole job is making others smaller.
One line names the engine under it all. Santan kai dookhan tarisnaa meh jalai — slandering the saints, one burns in tarisnaa, the fire of wanting. Envy is wanting in disguise. The slanderer attacks in others what he aches for and does not have. Think of someone who mocks the kid who got the lead in the school play. Often, they wanted that part themselves.
Sant dokhee kaa thaa-o ko naahi — the slanderer has no place to rest. This beats like a drum through the whole song. Restlessness is the slanderer's home weather. A mind at war with goodness can never stand down.
And again, the door that should stay shut opens. Naanak sant bhaavai taa o-ay bhee gat paahi — if it pleases the saint, even they are set free.
If someone is being unkind to you or hurting you, that is never something you have to accept. Telling a grown-up you trust is always the right thing to do.
When you criticize someone a lot, is there something they have that you secretly wish were yours?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI