ਸਿਆਨਪ ਕਾਹੂ ਕਾਮਿ ਨ ਆਤ ॥
si-aanap kaahoo kaam na aat.
Cleverness is of no use at all.
ਜੋ ਅਨਰੂਪਿਓ ਠਾਕੁਰਿ ਮੇਰੈ ਹੋਇ ਰਹੀ ਉਹ ਬਾਤ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
jo anroopi-o thaakur mayrai ho-ay rahee uh baat. ||1|| rahaa-o.
Whatever my Lord and Master deems to be right - that alone comes to pass. ||1||Pause||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Being clever gets you nowhere in the end.
Whatever the One judges right — that, and only that, is what actually happens.
Scheming to outmaneuver reality is exhausting and doesn't work — trust does more for peace than cleverness ever could.
The Pause line states it flatly: "cleverness is of no use at all." This is a recurring Goojaree theme (see Shabad 17), and it is not anti-intelligence — it is anti-scheming, the frantic belief that we can outmaneuver reality if we are just shrewd enough. The relief in it is real: you can lay down the exhausting cleverness and rest in "whatever my Lord deems right." Trust does more for peace than shrewdness ever could.
A Question to Sit With
Where are you trying to be 'clever' with something that might be asking for trust instead?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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