Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
They sing religious songs, but their minds are wicked.
They sing the songs, and call themselves divine.
But without the Name, their minds are false and wicked.
Guru Nanak warns that singing holy songs does not make an empty heart holy.
Gaavahi geetay cheet aneetay — they sing religious songs, but their minds are unkind. They sing and call themselves holy. But without the Name, their minds are false.
The singing is good. But the singing is not the holiness. Without the Name alive inside, it is only a show. Think of someone who sings "Happy Birthday" loudly, then ignores the birthday kid all day.
Another shabad makes the same point with the picture of a pretender dancing. The song matters because of the heart behind it.
What is the difference between performing devotion and truly feeling it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI