Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A cow with no milk; a bird with no wings; a garden with no water — all of them useless.
What is an emperor with no respect? And the room of the soul is utterly dark without the Name of the One.
This one says a soul without the Name is like a room with the lights switched off.
Guru Nanak gives a quick row of pictures. A cow that gives no milk. A bird with no wings. A garden with no water. An emperor nobody respects. Each one is missing the very thing that makes it what it is.
Then comes the point. Andhee kothee tayraa naam naahee means "without Your Name, the room is dark." The room is the soul. The Name is the One's presence, remembered with love.
Think of a phone with a dead battery. It still looks like a phone. But it cannot call, light up, or do anything it was made for. In the same way, the soul was made for the Name. With the Name, the room fills with light.
What is the one thing that, missing, would make you not really *you*?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI