Some trade in priceless jewels, while others deal in mere glass.
O Nanak, no one else is truly alive; those who merely live shall depart in dishonor; everything they eat is impure. Intoxicated with power and thrilled with wealth, they delight in their pleasures, and dance about shamelessly. O Nanak, they are deluded and defrauded.
Some call him a ghost; some say that he is a demon. Some call him a mere mortal;
Those who merely perform rituals of worship are not pleasing to their Lord and Master.
The jewel of the soul is priceless, and yet it is being squandered like this, in exchange for a mere shell.