Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A person can try to put on a show for other people and fool the crowd.
But the One who reads the inside of every heart already knows the whole story — the wrong quietly done, the denying of it, the holy costume worn over it all.
We can fool other people, and the One still sees inside.
A person can put on a show for others. But oh antarjaamee jaanai — the Inner-Knower knows. Antarjaamee means the One who sees inside every heart. The verse gently shows the gap between the outside and the inside. Someone may do wrong, deny it, and then bhaykh karai nirbaanai — wear the robe of one who has left the world behind, pretending to be free.
That costume fools people, but it does not fool the One. It is like a superhero costume: it does not give you superpowers. The problem is the pretending, not the robe. And the point is not shame. Honesty is always possible, because you are already fully seen and still held.
Is there a place where you act one way outside and feel another way inside? What would honesty there feel like?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI