Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A person at war with goodness thrashes like a fish pulled out of water - out of their element, unable to settle.
Their hunger cannot be fed - the way a fire only grows by being given more fuel.
They end up standing alone, like a barren stalk left in a harvested field. Faith cannot take root in them, and the lying becomes constant.
This pattern is as old as time itself. What the One's Will carries, comes to pass.
This one gives three pictures of a soul working against love.
First, ji-o jal bihoon machhulee tarhafrhaa-ay — like a fish out of water, thrashing. The slanderer is out of his element, and that element is love. Souls are made for love the way fish are made for water. A soul working against love thrashes by its nature, not as a punishment.
Second, ji-o paavak eedhan nahee dharaapai — like a fire that is never full, no matter how much wood you give it. Every grudge that gets fed only grows hungrier. Slander is the only meal that makes you hungrier with every bite. It is the cruelest form of endless wanting.
Third, the barren sesame stalk, boo-aarh til. When the harvest is gathered, only the empty stalk is left standing in the field. It stands alone because it grew nothing all season. Think of the one plant in a garden bed that never flowered, left standing after everything else is picked.
The last two lines widen the view with sudden calm. Kirat nindak kaa dhur hee pa-i-aa — the slanderer's fate was set from the very beginning. The pattern is built into how souls and slander work. It is as old as envy itself. And even this dark pattern turns inside the Will of the One, which turns everything. Naanak jo tis bhaavai so-ee thi-aa — O Nanak, whatever pleases the One comes to pass.
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.
What is your element - the thing you are made to live inside? How does it feel when you are out of it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI