Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Let your body be the holy man, and your mind the simple cloth he wears; let real wisdom be your sacred thread, and quiet meditation the ring on your hand.
Let seeking the Name and singing its praise be the bath that makes you clean.
By grace, I melt into the One.
This one says the truest holy thread is not tied on the outside but grown on the inside.
Some Hindu families hold a ceremony called janeu. A boy receives a sacred cotton thread to wear across his body. The story goes that when Guru Nanak was a boy, he gently refused his. He asked instead for a thread made of kindness and contentment. That kind of thread, he said, would never break, burn, or get lost.
Here Guru Nanak turns each outer object into something inside. Kaa-i-aa barahmaa means "let the body be the priest." Man hai dhotee means "let the mind be the simple cloth." Gi-aan janay-oo means "let wisdom be the sacred thread." Dhi-aan kuspaatee means "let meditation be the ring." And praising the Name becomes the cleansing bath.
Think of a team jersey. Wearing it does not make you a player. Showing up and playing does. Guru Nanak respects the thread. He simply points to what it is meant to stand for. Gur parsaadee means "by the Guru's grace." With that grace, he says, barahm samaa-o, "I melt into the One."
What is the difference between wearing a symbol and actually living what it stands for?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI