The Name Is the Truest Decoration You Can Wear

ਕਾਮਣਿ ਪਿਰਹੁ ਭੁਲੀ ਜੀਉ ਮਾਇਆ ਮੋਹਿ ਪਿਆਰੇ ॥

kaaman pirahu bhulee jee-o maa-i-aa mohi pi-aaray.

The soul-bride has forgotten her Husband Lord, because of love and emotional attachment to Maya.

ਝੂਠੀ ਝੂਠਿ ਲਗੀ ਜੀਉ ਕੂੜਿ ਮੁਠੀ ਕੂੜਿਆਰੇ ॥

jhoothee jhooth lagee jee-o koorh muthee koorhi-aaray.

The false bride is attached to falsehood; the insincere one is cheated by insincerity.

ਕੂੜੁ ਨਿਵਾਰੇ ਗੁਰਮਤਿ ਸਾਰੇ ਜੂਐ ਜਨਮੁ ਨ ਹਾਰੇ ॥

koorh nivaaray gurmat saaray joo-ai janam na haaray.

She who drives out her falsehood, and acts according to the Guru's Teachings, does not lose her life in the gamble.

ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦੁ ਸੇਵੇ ਸਚਿ ਸਮਾਵੈ ਵਿਚਹੁ ਹਉਮੈ ਮਾਰੇ ॥

gur sabad sayvay sach samaavai vichahu ha-umai maaray.

One who serves the Word of the Guru's Shabad is absorbed in the True Lord; she eradicates egotism from within.

ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਨਾਮੁ ਰਿਦੈ ਵਸਾਏ ਐਸਾ ਕਰੇ ਸੀਗਾਰੋ ॥

har kaa naam ridai vasaa-ay aisaa karay seegaaro.

So let the Name of the Lord abide within your heart; decorate yourself in this way.

ਨਾਨਕ ਕਾਮਣਿ ਸਹਜਿ ਸਮਾਣੀ ਜਿਸੁ ਸਾਚਾ ਨਾਮੁ ਅਧਾਰੋ ॥੩॥

naanak kaaman sahj samaanee jis saachaa naam aDhaaro. ||3||

O Nanak, the soul-bride who takes the Support of the True Name is intuitively absorbed in the Lord. ||3||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Sometimes a heart forgets its love, caught up instead in shiny, passing things — chasing what isn't real and feeling cheated by it. But the heart that clears out the false, and lives by the teaching's wisdom, doesn't gamble its life away. Serving the Word, it settles into what's real and quiets its ego from inside. Let the Name live in your heart — decorate yourself with that. The heart that leans on the true Name melts, gently, into a natural peace.

The Name held in your heart is the truest decoration you can wear.

The deeper layer

Stanza ||3||. Kaaman pirahu bhulee ... maa-i-aa mohi — the heart forgets its love, caught in maya. Joo-ai janam na haaray — "does not lose life in the gamble," a vivid image of not throwing your life away. Har kaa naam ridai vasaa-ay ... seegaaro — let the Name dwell in the heart as your true adornment. Sahj samaanee — absorbed in sahaj, natural peace. Forgetting is treated as a state to clear, not a sin.

A Question to Sit With

What is something good you could 'keep in your heart' to steady you each day?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

About this shabad →

← Verse 2 of 4 Quiet the Ego and Old Aches Slip Away

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