Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You might be a Qazi, a Mullah or a Shaykh.
You might be a yogi, or a wandering holy man in saffron robes.
You might be a householder, busy at your work.
Without understanding what devotion is, everyone ends up tied and led away by death.
No robe or title sets you free. Understanding does.
Guru Nanak names the religious people of his world. A Qazi is a Muslim judge. A Mullah is a Muslim teacher, and a Shaykh is a Muslim spiritual guide. A yogi and a jangam, a wandering holy man, wear saffron (orange) robes. A householder is an ordinary person at work.
He says the same thing to all of them. This is not about any one faith. It is about wearing the outside without the inside. Bin boojhay means without understanding. Without it, everyone stays tied up and is driven along by death's messenger. That means being stuck, not free.
Think of a school uniform. Wearing it does not mean you have learned the lessons. Understanding is what unties the knots.
Does wearing a certain uniform or title make someone good on the inside?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI