ਕਰਿ ਪੰਜੀਰੁ ਖਵਾਇਓ ਚੋਰ ॥
kar panjeer khavaa-i-o chor.
You prepare sweet treats and feed them to your stone god.
ਓਹੁ ਜਨਮਿ ਨ ਮਰੈ ਰੇ ਸਾਕਤ ਢੋਰ ॥੨॥
oh janam na marai ray saakat dhor. ||2||
God is not born, and He does not die, you foolish, faithless cynic! ||2||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You make sweet treats and feed them to an image made of stone.
The One is never born and never dies, you foolish, faithless one!
Love for an image is beautiful, and still the One is larger than any single shape.
The One is never born and never dies, larger than any image we feed and care for.
Guru Arjan speaks sharply here. Panjeer is a sweet treat. Saakat is someone whose heart is turned away from the One. The sharpness is aimed at going through the motions: treating the boundless One like a doll to be fed while the heart stays far away. The same warning fits every tradition, wherever outward ritual takes the place of a loving heart.
A Question to Sit With
How do you picture something too big to picture?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
Use ← → to navigate