Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Deep inside, adore the teaching; with your tongue, say its name.
Let your eyes rest on it, your ears drink it in. Tuned to the true teaching, you find a place of honor; Nanak says, this treasure goes to those touched by mercy — rare people, quietly holy in the middle of ordinary life.
Guru Arjan's Vaar opens by gathering the whole person into devotion — heart, tongue, eyes, ears all turned to the teaching. And it locates holiness not in a monastery but "in the midst of the world": the truly pious are "rare" people living ordinary lives, quietly luminous. This sets the Vaar's key — devotion woven through a normal life, given by grace.
Who do you know who is 'quietly holy in the middle of ordinary life'? What makes them so?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI