ਸੁਣਿ ਪਾਡੇ ਕਿਆ ਲਿਖਹੁ ਜੰਜਾਲਾ ॥
sun paaday ki-aa likhahu janjaalaa.
Listen, O Pandit, O religious scholar, why are you writing about worldly debates?
ਲਿਖੁ ਰਾਮ ਨਾਮ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਗੋਪਾਲਾ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
likh raam naam gurmukh gopaalaa. ||1|| rahaa-o.
As Gurmukh, write only the Name of the Lord, the Lord of the World. ||1||Pause||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Listen, learned friend: why fill page after page with the world's quarrels and tangled accounts?
Turn toward the Guru, and write only the Naam of the One who cares for the whole world.
Write the Naam, not the quarrels.
Writing the Naam is better than writing the world's quarrels. Janjaalaa means worldly entanglements: the endless disputes and accounts.
This is the rahaao, the refrain. Nanak addresses the paaday — the learned Pandit — with respect, not scorn. The invitation is to aim learning at what endures. The critique is of empty formality, not of learning or of the man himself.
A Question to Sit With
What are you learning right now — and what is it for?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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