Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The greatest person of all is the one who lets go of pride in the Sangat.
Whoever sees themselves as small is counted highest. Whoever becomes the dust of everyone's feet sees the One in every heart.
Whoever clears cruelty out of their own mind finds the whole world has become their friend.
And Nanak says: the one who receives pleasure and pain as the same guest - nothing can stain them anymore.
True greatness turns the world's idea of greatness upside down.
The highest person is the one who feels small. The greatest is the one who drops pride in the Sangat. The one whose mind becomes "the dust of all," humble toward everyone, gains a rare gift. Har har naam tin ghat ghat cheenaa — they recognize the Name of the One in every heart.
The next lines see deep into how people work. Man apunay tay buraa mitaanaa — whoever clears unkindness out of their own mind, paykhai sagal sarisat saajnaa — sees the whole world as a friend. The order matters. First the inside is cleared. Then the world looks friendly. A lot of the unfriendliness we notice starts in how we are looking. A shabad in Raag Aasaa teaches the same thing: the world is like a mirror of the heart. Think of wearing grumpy sunglasses. Take them off, and the same street looks brighter.
The last line reaches deep calm. Pleasure and pain are met as the same guest. The person is no longer caught up in keeping score of wrong and right. This is not feeling nothing. It is having roots in something deeper than the weather. That deep, easy calm is called sahaj.
When someone seems mean to you, how much of that might be living in how you look at them?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI