Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Joy grows out of a whole heart, one that loves a single thing.
You cannot fake your way to it -- pretending to be devoted while your heart is somewhere else just leaves you restless.
Stubbornly going through the motions of a ritual, with nothing behind it, doesn't reach anyone.
Nanak says: turn toward the Guru, understand yourself, and let the small, grasping self grow quiet. Then the One comes to live in you.
Then the old circle of restlessness ends, and your light melts into the great Light.
A Guru Amar Das shalok. Doojai bhaa-ay (the love of a second thing -- duality) and pakhand (show without substance) are the blockers here. The teaching is not "rituals are bad" but "hollow rituals reach no one." Aap beechaaree-ai... aap gavaa-ay -- understanding the self and letting the self-conceit go -- is the doorway. Jaman marnaa kati-aa (birth-and-death cut) is rendered gently as the ending of the restless circle, not as death-terror. Jotee jot milaa-ay: light merging with Light -- the drop rejoining the ocean.
What is the difference between caring about something and only looking like you do?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI