Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
What's the use of all the outer meditating and chanting,
if your heart isn't actually clean and kind inside?
This one asks: what good is praying if your heart stays unkind?
This is the rahaa-o line, the "pause" line. It is the center of the whole song. Kaahay ka-o keejai Dhi-aan japannaa — why do you meditate and chant? Jab tay suDh naahee man apnaa — when your mind is not pure?
Naam Dayv is not against prayer. He loved to sing to the One himself! He is against prayer done as a show while the heart stays the same. Like the heron's stillness, that is only a pose.
Think of brushing only the front of your teeth before a photo. It looks good, but the inside is not clean. The point of any good practice — prayer, quiet time, kind words — is to make the heart kinder. Real practice changes the inside, not just the outside.
What good is a calm, holy pose if the heart underneath isn't kind?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI