ਕਾਜਰ ਕੋਠ ਮਹਿ ਭਈ ਨ ਕਾਰੀ ਨਿਰਮਲ ਬਰਨੁ ਬਨਿਓ ਰੀ ॥
kaajar koth meh bha-ee na kaaree nirmal baran bani-o ree.
In the store-room of the lamp-black, I did not turn black; my color remained immaculate and pure.
ਮਹਾ ਮੰਤ੍ਰੁ ਗੁਰ ਹਿਰਦੈ ਬਸਿਓ ਅਚਰਜ ਨਾਮੁ ਸੁਨਿਓ ਰੀ ॥੩॥
mahaa mantar gur hirdai basi-o achraj naam suni-o ree. ||3||
The Guru has implanted the Maha Mantra, the Great Mantra, within my heart, and I have heard the wondrous Naam, the Name of the Lord. ||3||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In the store-room full of lamp-black, I did not turn black; my color stayed clean and pure.
The Guru planted the Great Mantra in my heart, and I heard the wondrous Name.
To stay spotless in a room full of soot is grace's doing — like a lotus clean in the mud.
The shabad's strongest image: "in the store-room of the lamp-black, I did not turn black." To sit in a room full of soot and stay spotless is impossible by nature — like the lotus untouched in muddy water (Shabad 40). The soul stayed pure amid total corruption because "the Guru implanted the Maha Mantra" within it. Grace keeps clean what the world would blacken.
A Question to Sit With
How can a person stay good in a place where almost everything pulls the other way?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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