Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When I remember the Guru, all my wrongs are washed away.
When I remember the Guru, death's noose does not catch me.
When I remember the Guru, my mind becomes clean, and the Guru takes away my pride.
Remembering the Guru makes the heart clean and light.
The verse says it three times, like a drumbeat: gur simrat, "remembering the Guru." To remember here means to hold the teaching close, with love, again and again.
First, remembering washes away kilvikh, the pile-up of old wrongs. Second, it loosens the grip of fear. The old verse pictures death's noose; underneath, it is the fear that squeezes us, and here it lets go. Third, the mind becomes nirmal, which means spotless, and pride melts away.
Think of a window covered in dust. You wipe it once, and a little light comes in. You keep wiping, and soon the whole room is bright.
Pride is not a crime to punish here. It is a heaviness to set down.
What feels lighter after you finally set down something you were carrying?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI