ਬੇਦ ਪੜਹਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਨ ਬੂਝਹਿ ॥
bayd parheh har naam na boojheh.
He may read the Vedas, but he does not realize the Lord's Name.
ਮਾਇਆ ਕਾਰਣਿ ਪੜਿ ਪੜਿ ਲੂਝਹਿ ॥
maa-i-aa kaaran parh parh loojheh.
For the sake of Maya, he reads and recites and argues.
ਅੰਤਰਿ ਮੈਲੁ ਅਗਿਆਨੀ ਅੰਧਾ ਕਿਉ ਕਰਿ ਦੁਤਰੁ ਤਰੀਜੈ ਹੇ ॥੧੪॥
antar mail agi-aanee anDhaa ki-o kar dutar tareejai hay. ||14||
The ignorant and blind person is filled with filth within. How can he cross over the impassable world-ocean? ||14||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A person can read the holiest books and still not meet the One inside them.
If the reading is only for show or for gain, it stays on the surface.
For the deep waters of life are not crossed by words alone, but by taking the truth to heart.
Reading holy words is not the same as living what they say.
Reading the Vedas for the sake of Maya stays on the surface, and the same holds for every reader of every scripture: reading and living are two different things. Dutar, the ocean hard to cross, is the deep waters of life, crossed by taking truth to heart.
A Question to Sit With
When is reading about something different from doing it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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