ਝੂਠ ਵਿਕਾਰ ਮਹਾ ਦੁਖੁ ਦੇਹ ॥
jhooth vikaar mahaa dukh dayh.
Falsehood and corruption cause terrible suffering.
ਭੇਖ ਵਰਨ ਦੀਸਹਿ ਸਭਿ ਖੇਹ ॥
bhaykh varan deeseh sabh khayh.
All the religious robes and social classes look just like dust.
ਜੋ ਉਪਜੈ ਸੋ ਆਵੈ ਜਾਇ ॥
jo upjai so aavai jaa-ay.
Whoever is born, continues to come and go.
ਨਾਨਕ ਅਸਥਿਰੁ ਨਾਮੁ ਰਜਾਇ ॥੪॥੧੧॥
naanak asthir naam rajaa-ay. ||4||11||
O Nanak, only the Naam and the Lord's Command are eternal and everlasting. ||4||11||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Falsehood and grasping bring terrible suffering.
All the holy robes and the proud social ranks are, in the end, just dust.
Whoever is born keeps coming and going; only the Name and the One's flow last forever.
Holy robes and proud ranks are dust; only the Name and the flow of life last.
The shabad closes by leveling both false religion and social hierarchy to "dust" — robes and castes alike. This is the same critique as Shabad 28 and Shabad 32, here aimed at status of every kind. Against all of it, only two things are eternal: the Naam and the Hukam. Everything else comes and goes.
A Question to Sit With
What lasts, really — and what only seems to matter for a while?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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