ਆਸਾ ਮਹਲਾ ੫ ॥
aasaa mehlaa 5.
Aasaa, Fifth Mehl:
ਦਾਨੁ ਦੇਇ ਕਰਿ ਪੂਜਾ ਕਰਨਾ ॥
daan day-ay kar poojaa karnaa.
They give you donations and worship you.
ਲੈਤ ਦੇਤ ਉਨ੍ਹ੍ਹ ਮੂਕਰਿ ਪਰਨਾ ॥
lait dayt unH mookar parnaa.
You take from them, and then deny that they have given anything to you.
ਜਿਤੁ ਦਰਿ ਤੁਮ੍ਹ੍ਹ ਹੈ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਜਾਣਾ ॥
jit dar tumH hai baraahman jaanaa.
That door, through which you must ultimately go, O Brahmin
ਤਿਤੁ ਦਰਿ ਤੂੰਹੀ ਹੈ ਪਛੁਤਾਣਾ ॥੧॥
tit dar tooNhee hai pachhutaanaa. ||1||
- at that door, you will come to regret and repent. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
People bring you offerings and bow to you.
You take what they give — and then act as if they gave you nothing.
But the door you must finally pass through, O priest — at that door you will be full of regret.
Trading on the sacred for your own gain catches up with you at the last door.
Guru Arjan confronts religious corruption: the priest who accepts offerings yet "denies that they have given anything," exploiting the trust of the faithful. The warning is the final "door" — death and reckoning — where the exploiter "will come to regret." This is a critique of hypocrisy as such, not of any people; the same charge falls on anyone who trades on the sacred.
A Question to Sit With
Why is it especially wrong to take advantage of someone's trust or faith?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
Use ← → to navigate