Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
People pore over grammar, the old scriptures, and study the sacred texts closely.
But without the One's Name, none of it, by itself, sets the heart free. So says Nanak, the One's servant.
Studying holy books is good — but study on its own, without love for the One, does not set the heart free.
Guru Nanak names serious learning with respect. People master asat saaj, the eight chapters of Panini's famous Sanskrit grammar. They puraan soDheh, study the Puranas, the old story-books of Hindu tradition. They karahi bayd abhi-aas, practise the Vedas. All of it takes years.
Then the turn: bin naam har kay mukat naahee — without the Name there is no freedom. The point is not that books are bad. It is that knowing a lot about the One is different from loving the One. You can read every recipe in a cookbook and still be hungry. Only eating feeds you.
Kahai naanak daas: this is Nanak, the One's servant, speaking — not as a scholar, but as someone who serves.
Can you know a lot of facts about something and still not understand it? How?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI