Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You feel most at home with the One when your heart is turned toward what's true.
Saying things you don't mean, just for show, doesn't help at all; empty words never brought anyone closer.
When a heart chases only pretend things, it stays tangled up and restless, missing the very One it's looking for.
But Nanak says: the moment you understand yourself, facing the Guru, you slip into a deep, natural peace, the ease of a heart that has stopped fighting itself.
Empty words do not bring us closer. Knowing ourselves does.
Jhoothay vain chavay kaam na aav-ay — false words are of no use at all. Guru Nanak sets this hollow talk beside aapay aap pachhaanai, truly knowing your own self. When a person knows themselves, they settle into sahj, a natural, easy peace.
The verse also paints a bride left alone through the night. Read gently, that is the ache of a heart caught in faahee, a net. The net is made of pretend things. It is like a kite tangled in a tree. It is stuck, but it can be freed. This is an ache we can recover from.
Can you tell the difference between saying something for show and saying something you mean?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI