Goodness for Applause Washes Away; From the Heart, It Stands
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Even good deeds, if they are done just to show off how great I am, don't hold. They wash away like a sandcastle when the tide rolls in — pretty for a while, then gone. What holds is goodness done without needing the credit.
AhaN-budh karam kamaavanay — deeds done in the "I-am-great mind" (ahankaar-budh). The image garih baaloo neer bahaavanay is unforgettable and kid-friendly: a "house of sand" swept off by water. The teaching is not that good deeds don't matter; it is that ego-driven goodness has no foundation — it is built for the audience, not from the heart, so the first wave takes it. Humility is what makes goodness stand.
Have you ever done something kind just to be seen doing it? How did it feel afterward?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI