Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Singing the praise of the One and the Naam is the finest thing of all. In this dark age (Kali Yug), it is the best deed anyone can do.
The praise comes through the Guru's teaching. Wear the Naam of the One like a necklace over your heart.
Those who remember the One are so fortunate; the One hands them the whole treasure-house.
Without the Naam, whatever deeds people do, they keep wearing themselves out in ego.
You can wash an elephant clean in the water, and it throws dust back on its head again.
O kind True Guru, bring me to the One, so that the One Creator comes to live in my mind.
Nanak says: I cheer for those who face the Guru, who hear the One and take it to heart.
Wear the Naam like a necklace over your heart; doing things without it is like washing an elephant that rolls straight back in the dust.
Har naamaa har ur haar: the Naam worn as a haar, a necklace, right over the heart. A necklace is something you wear because you love it. Jal hastee mal naavaalee-ai: picture scrubbing an elephant clean in the river, and the moment it climbs out, it tosses dust all over its own head. Good deeds done in ego go the same way.
Kalijug is the name for this age, an age that can feel dark. Sun and mani-aa go together here: to hear, and to take what you hear to heart and live by it.
What do you do that feels like washing an elephant — hard work that undoes itself?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI