Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Reading ledgers and books, no one has ever reached Him; talking and discoursing, no one has found His end.
From the Guru His worth is learned; the True Word gives the understanding.
This one says books circle around the One, but meeting reaches Him.
Read the accounts, laykhaa parh: the scriptures, the arguments, to the very last page. Still, the reading has not moved you one step toward Him, only around Him. Talking does the same: kath kahnai ant na paa-ay — no amount of talk finds His end.
This is not against learning. Guru Amar Das himself quotes, reasons, and teaches. It is about what the One is like. The One is not a thing to describe. The One is a Presence to meet.
His keemat, His true worth, is received from the living Guru. Think of learning music. You learn it from a musician who plays beside you, not from a book about music.
What have you learned from being with someone that no book about them could have taught you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI