Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Your kitchen is spotless. You bathe, you worship, you wear the crimson mark on your brow; your mouth speaks wisdom —
but pride is destroying you. The dog of greed has ruined you, every way.
Guru Arjan is saying: every outward practice can be perfect while greed and pride ruin you inside.
Look at the list. The kitchen is spotless. There is a bath, worship, and a red tilak, a mark of devotion on the forehead. The mouth speaks wise words. Everything on the outside is in place. Yet galee garbeh — pride is in your talk. And sabh biDh kho-ee lobh su-aan — the dog of greed has ruined you in every way. Lobh means greed. It follows you everywhere and gets into everything, like a hungry dog.
The practices themselves are not the problem. The problem is when they live only on the outside. Think of a shiny apple that is rotten in the middle. Another hymn in Raag Aasaa paints the same picture: fine robes outside, poison within. Outward religion, however perfect, is hollow when the passions rule inside.
Can someone do all the right religious things and still miss the point entirely?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI