Set Down the Pretending and the Limitless One Keeps You
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When I let go of pretending, of clinging attachment, and of the tangled-up choices that pull me off course, the Guru, the Supreme One, quietly kept my honor safe.
So, Nanak says, hold close and adore the One — endless, with no edge and no far shore. What has no limit can hold anything you bring to it.
Set down pretending and clinging, and the limitless One keeps your honor safe.
Pat raakhee gur paarbarahm — the Guru, the Supreme One, preserved my honor — taj parpanch moh bikaar, when hypocrisy (parpanch), attachment (moh), and corrupting pulls (bikaar) were set down. Bikaar means the tangled-up choices that pull me off course. The close, ant na paaraavaar — the One is without end or limit — becomes no edge and no far shore, a vastness that reassures: it can hold anything. The "Pappa" Pauri follows, on the One beyond all measure.
What is one thing you sometimes pretend about, that might feel lighter to simply set down?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI