Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Let wisdom raise you like a mother. Let contentment steady you like a father. Let truth stand beside you like a brother. These are the best family you could ever have.
Your truest family is made of the good things you carry inside you.
Guru Nanak takes the idea of family and turns it inward. Wisdom is your mother. Santokh, contentment, the quiet feeling of "I have enough," is your father. Sat, truth, is your brother.
In his time, many people judged each other by the family and caste they were born into. Caste was a way of ranking people by birth. Guru Nanak moves the answer to "who are you?" somewhere new. You are the good qualities you live with every day.
This does not push real family away. It changes where you find yourself. Think of school. What makes you a good friend there is not your last name. It is how you treat people. Who you are grows from the good you live by, not the family line you were born into. With this, Guru Nanak puts everyone on the same level.
If wisdom, contentment, and truth were people in your family, which one do you most need to spend time with?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI