Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The treasure of a thankful, praising heart is a gift — you can spend it freely once it's given to you.
Rituals alone can leave a person tired out; what fills you is the real thing carried inside.
This Shalok (Third Mehl) frames the "treasure of the Lord's Praise" as daat — a gift given, not a prize earned. "Without the True Guru it does not come to hand; all have grown weary performing rituals." This is the Gurus' steady teaching that outer religious performance, done without an inner turn, exhausts rather than fills. The stern closing about the manmukh (self-turned) "hungry in the next world" is the kind of memento mori this Vaar uses; the qMonk voice keeps only the gentle kernel — a heart that never grew anything good inside can feel empty later — rather than a threat.
What's the difference between just going through the motions and really meaning something?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI