Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Day eleven — a day some keep as a fast. Here is the real fast: see the One right here, close at hand, not far away at all.
Steady the pull of the senses and listen for the One. Let your mind be content, and be kind to every living thing. *That* is what makes a fast complete.
Hold your wandering mind in one place; body and mind grow clear as you keep the One in mind. The Boundless is filling everyone, everywhere. So sing what is beautiful about the One — that is the truest, steadiest way to live.
Aykaadasee is the eleventh day — Ekadashi, traditionally a fasting day in Hindu practice. This is a pivotal verse for the poem's grace-not-calendar lens: instead of dismissing the fast, Guru Arjan redefines it. The real barat (fast) isn't skipping food — it's man santokh sarab jee-a daiaa: a contented mind and kindness to all beings. In bidh barat sampooran bha-i-aa — "this is how a fast is truly completed." It's a deeply respectful move: the ritual isn't mocked, it's fulfilled from the inside. The critique lands on empty formalism in any tradition, while honoring the sincere impulse behind the practice. Atal ehu dharam — "this is the unshakable way" — points to inner kindness as the steady thing beneath any calendar.
If being kind counted as a kind of fasting, what would you "give up" being unkind about today?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI