ਜੇ ਤੂੰ ਪੜਿਆ ਪੰਡਿਤੁ ਬੀਨਾ ਦੁਇ ਅਖਰ ਦੁਇ ਨਾਵਾ ॥
jay tooN parhi-aa pandit beenaa du-ay akhar du-ay naavaa.
If you are a learned and wise religious scholar, then make a boat of the letters of the Lord's Name.
ਪ੍ਰਣਵਤਿ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਏਕੁ ਲੰਘਾਏ ਜੇ ਕਰਿ ਸਚਿ ਸਮਾਵਾਂ ॥੩॥੨॥੧੦॥
paranvat naanak ayk langhaa-ay jay kar sach samaavaaN. ||3||2||10||
Prays Nanak, the One Lord shall carry you across, if you merge in the True Lord. ||3||2||10||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
If you are a learned and wise scholar, make a boat of the few letters of the One's Naam.
Nanak prays: the One will carry you across, if you merge into the True One.
All your learning is good, but it is the Name that makes the boat that carries you across.
All your learning finds its use when you make the Naam your boat and melt into the True One.
The close speaks even to the learned pandit. The du-ay akhar, the couple of letters of the Naam, make the boat. Ayk langhaa-ay: the One ferries you over, jay kar sach samaavaa, if you dissolve into sach, what is true. Knowledge is honored and gently put in its place: the boat is the Naam, and the crossing is melting into Truth.
A Question to Sit With
Can you know a lot about swimming and still need to get in the water?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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