Praise and blame from an untrue heart weigh nothing; a counterfeit shows under testing; you harvest what you plant, and yet the all-seeing One is quick to welcome the sincere.
The Arc
This shabad (closing ||4||4||6||) is a meditation on genuineness. It opens by draining the power out of a dishonest person's words, praise or blame alike. The Rahao turns the lens inward, a gentle self-check, since the True One sees past every word. The middle verses give two images: the counterfeit coin that hides among the real until testing reveals it, and the farming law that you reap what you sow. It closes by admitting that the world is often fooled, yet insisting the One is not, while adding that this all-knowing One gladly welcomes even the simple and sincere.
Key Vocabulary
chor: literally a thief, here a heart that lives by dishonesty
khotaa / khaaraa: counterfeit versus genuine, tested like coins
jaisaa karay so taisaa paavai: as you act, so you receive, the law of karma
surat: inner understanding, which quietly builds the road you walk
adhee parvaan: even the simple are approved, when it pleases the One
Themes and Cross-Connections
The coin imagery makes this a quintessential Dhanaasaree shabad, turning the raag's wealth-language toward inner worth. The teaching that value comes from truth within, not the crowd's verdict, continues directly from the previous shabads' theme of honor the world cannot give. And the closing grace-note, adhee parvaan, keeps the project's balance: karma is real, yet grace can still lift the sincere beyond their deserving.
For Raag Dhanaasaree
The raag of true wealth here weighs character like coin: appearances are tested, the genuine endures, and the One assays every heart, yet with a mercy always ready to welcome honesty.
Translation Notes
The Rahao's source words, sun man anDhay kutay koorhi-aar (listen, O blind, false-dealing dog), are rendered here as a gentle inward self-address rather than harsh insult, following the project's guidance to turn self-condemnation into kind self-correction.
Praise and blame from an untrue heart weigh nothing; a counterfeit shows under testing; you harvest what you plant, and yet the all-seeing One is quick to welcome the sincere.
The Arc
This shabad (closing ||4||4||6||) is a meditation on genuineness. It opens by draining the power out of a dishonest person's words, praise or blame alike. The Rahao turns the lens inward, a gentle self-check, since the True One sees past every word. The middle verses give two images: the counterfeit coin that hides among the real until testing reveals it, and the farming law that you reap what you sow. It closes by admitting that the world is often fooled, yet insisting the One is not, while adding that this all-knowing One gladly welcomes even the simple and sincere.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The coin imagery makes this a quintessential Dhanaasaree shabad, turning the raag's wealth-language toward inner worth. The teaching that value comes from truth within, not the crowd's verdict, continues directly from the previous shabads' theme of honor the world cannot give. And the closing grace-note, adhee parvaan, keeps the project's balance: karma is real, yet grace can still lift the sincere beyond their deserving.
For Raag Dhanaasaree
The raag of true wealth here weighs character like coin: appearances are tested, the genuine endures, and the One assays every heart, yet with a mercy always ready to welcome honesty.
Translation Notes
The Rahao's source words, sun man anDhay kutay koorhi-aar (listen, O blind, false-dealing dog), are rendered here as a gentle inward self-address rather than harsh insult, following the project's guidance to turn self-condemnation into kind self-correction.