Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
There is only One. And the One is found by the True Guru's grace — a gift that is always here, waiting for an open heart.
O Brahmin, you worship your sacred stone and hope to please it, and you wear your rosary of holy basil beads as your good deed.
Chant the Naam of the One and build your boat with it. And pray: kind One, please be kind to me.
The Naam of the One is the boat that carries you across.
This shabad, in Basant Hindol, speaks to a Brahmin busy with a saal graam (a sacred stone) and tulsi rosary beads. Guru Nanak does not sneer; he redirects. What carries you across the water is the Naam, built into a bayrhaa, a boat. It is an invitation to look past the outer object to the living One it was meant to point at.
What is the difference between a picture of something and the thing itself that it shows?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI