Guru Granth Sahib compositions frequently pair kam and krodh in a single phrase, kam krodh, a fixed formula that appears across hymns from multiple Gurus and treats the two thieves as a linked pair rather than as separate dangers encountered independently, on the reasoning that unfulfilled desire, kam, characteristically converts into krodh, anger, when its object is denied or obstructed, a derivation with a close parallel in the Bhagavad Gita's own account of anger arising from frustrated desire, though the Sikh tradition arrives at the same observation through its own scriptural voice rather than by direct borrowing.
The Guru Granth Sahib describes krodh as burning away sahaj, the settled inner equilibrium naam simran cultivates, using fire imagery repeatedly to convey how quickly the state consumes the composure it finds, and several hymns counsel that anger is best answered not by suppression alone but by cultivating khima, forgiveness, understood in Sikh ethics as an active virtue rather than a passive absence of retaliation. Historical accounts of the Sikh Gurus themselves, particularly the narratives surrounding Guru Arjan's martyrdom and Guru Tegh Bahadur's, are read by later tradition as demonstrations of composure maintained under extreme provocation, held up as the practical, embodied standard the teaching on krodh sets rather than remaining only an abstract counsel.