ਮਃ ੫ ॥
mehlaa 5.
Fifth Mehl:
ਪਤਿਤ ਪੁਨੀਤ ਅਸੰਖ ਹੋਹਿ ਹਰਿ ਚਰਣੀ ਮਨੁ ਲਾਗ ॥
patit puneet asaNkh hohi har charnee man laag.
Countless sinners become pure, by fixing their minds on the Feet of the Lord.
ਅਠਸਠਿ ਤੀਰਥ ਨਾਮੁ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਜਿਸੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਮਸਤਕਿ ਭਾਗ ॥੨॥
athsath tirath naam parabh jis naanak mastak bhaag. ||2||
The Name of God is the sixty-eight holy places of pilgrimage, O Nanak, for one who has such destiny written upon his forehead. ||2||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Countless people who went wrong become pure by fixing the mind on the One's feet.
The Name is worth all sixty-eight pilgrimage-places, Nanak says, for the one with such destiny.
No one is beyond cleansing, and the pilgrimage you'd travel for is carried in the Name — both given, not earned.
The Shalok makes two moves: transformation ("countless sinners become pure") and relocation of the sacred ("the Name is the sixty-eight holy places of pilgrimage"). No one is beyond cleansing, and the pilgrimage you would travel for is carried in the Name. Both are grace — "for one who has such destiny" — so neither purity nor the sacred is a reward for merit; both are given to the turning heart.
A Question to Sit With
What 'far pilgrimage' might you be able to make right where you are, inwardly?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
Use ← → to navigate