Slander Corrodes the Material Friendship Is Made Of
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A person at war with goodness stays muddy inside, and finds that friendship keeps dying around them - nobody's friend, abandoned bit by bit.
Everything curves back to self - and the self it curves back to is spoiling.
They circle and circle - no peace, no place to set anything down.
And yet - if it pleases the Saint, even such a one may merge in union.
This one says slander eats away at the very thing friendship is made of.
The list in this verse keeps coming back to loneliness. Sant kaa dokhee kisai kaa nahee mit — the slanderer of the saint is nobody's friend. And he is left behind by all.
This loneliness is not a sentence handed down from above. It works more like rust. Friendship is made of trust, and slander eats away at trust. Everyone who enjoys hearing the gossip also wonders something quietly: what does he say about me when I leave? So even while they listen, they slowly back away. Think of a friend who always has a juicy secret about someone else. After a while, you stop telling that friend your own secrets.
The verse also calls the slanderer full of pride, all wrapped up in himself. That is the loop. The slanderer is not really talking about the saint at all. Every attack is really about himself: his own hurt and wanting, spoken in someone else's name.
Now notice how far this verse's mercy line reaches. Naanak sant bhaavai taa la-ay milaa-ay — if it pleases the saint, even such a one is brought into union. Not only saved. United. As the picture gets darker, the mercy grows bigger.
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 someone gossips to you about others, what do you start to suspect they do when you leave the room?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI