Salok Sehskritee, Salok 46 — Remembering Washes It Clean
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Cheating, blaming others falsely, millions of illnesses, wrongdoing and the dirt of bad deeds;
doubt, clinging, pride, shame, and being drunk on maya, the pull of things that do not last —
these keep people wandering through death and birth, lost in hell. Try as they might, they find no way out.
Nanak says: chanting the Naam of the Lord of the World in the Sangat, people become clean and pure.
Day after day, they sing the praises of the One.
Effort alone cannot wash off the dirt inside; remembering the One in the Sangat makes a person clean.
The list is long: cheating, false blame, sickness, wrongdoing, doubt, clinging, pride, shame and being drunk on maya. Together they keep a person wandering, round and round, in a hard and dark place. Anik upaava na sidh-yatai: many efforts, and still no way out.
What works is gentler. Chanting the Naam in the Sangat, a person becomes nirmala, clean, and keeps singing the One's praise day after day. This does not ask anyone to punish themselves. Turning to the One is how the washing happens.
When you feel bad about something you did, do you try to punish yourself? What would 'washing it clean' look like instead?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI