Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When I strut around as if I am the center of everything, I cannot really know the Oneness. Special clothes will not help, and neither will looking holy on the outside.
It is rare and beautiful when a heart turns toward the teaching and quietly hands itself over to love.
This one says no special clothes can bring you close to the One, but a heart that lets go can.
The key word is haumai, the ego. It is the loud "I" that feels separate from everything and gets in the way of knowing the One. Ha-umai karat bhaykhee nahee jaani-aa — acting from ego, even in holy robes, the One is not known. Bhaykh is the outside costume of religion: the robes and marks that say "look, I am holy."
Guru Nanak names two things the ego cannot buy. One is real knowing. The other is closeness through a costume. Think of wearing a doctor's coat to a party. It does not make you able to heal anyone.
What does reach the One is bhagat, loving devotion. Gurmukh bhagat virlay man maani-aa — rare is the person, turned toward the teaching, whose mind gives itself over in love. Maani-aa means the mind lines itself up with the One from inside. It is more than just believing. Virlay means rare. Guru Nanak is honest: this is uncommon, and precious because it is.
Can you think of a time you tried to look a certain way on the outside, when what mattered was what was happening on the inside?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI