Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
This is the work I do: worship, offering flowers, service and devotion.
My mind opens like a flower and lights up, and I am not thrown back into the womb again.
This one says: the real worship is a heart that opens.
Guru Arjan lists the outer acts of worship: poojaa arachaa sevaa — worship, offering flowers, service. Then he names what really happens: bigasai man hovai paragaasaa — my mind blossoms and fills with light.
This is the turn inward. The outer acts are good because they carry you inside, to the heart opening up. Think of a birthday card. The card is lovely, but what counts is the love that made someone write it. In the same way, the flowers you offer matter less than the flower of your mind unfolding.
"I am not cast into the womb again" is the old way of saying you are free from being born again and again. At heart, it means the soul has found its rest. It no longer circles around, restless. It is finally home.
Can you do all the right outward actions and still miss the point? What's the inner thing they're supposed to lead to?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI