Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Name itself is all the discipline, the purity, and the holy bathing you could ever need. What use is showing off how religious you are? The One lives inside and reads every heart.
This one says the Name is worth more than every outward show of religion.
Jat sat tirath majan naam — the Name is the discipline, the purity, and the holy bath, all at once. Guru Nanak takes the outside practices of his day and gathers them all into the Name. These were strict self-control, keeping pure, and bathing at holy places of pilgrimage.
Adhik bithaar kara-o kis kaam — what use is a big show? Think of someone who wears a team jersey to every game but never learns the players' names. The jersey is loud. The love is missing.
Nar naaraa-in antarjaam — the One lives inside everyone and knows every heart. So the holy moves from the stage to the heart, to the inner taste the Gurus call Har Ras, the sweetness of the One.
Have you ever done something good just to be seen doing it? How was that different from doing it quietly?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI