Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Suppose I were a great scholar, reciting all the holy books, honored everywhere for my learning.
Even then, let me never forget the Word of Truth for a square on the floor that no one else may touch.
Nanak says: such squares are false; only the One is true.
No line drawn on the ground can make a person holy; the One alone is pure.
In Guru Amar Das's time, some families cooked inside a cha-ukaa. It was a square marked on the floor, kept "pure" by keeping other people out. The verse imagines being a great pandit, a scholar, and a jotkee, a reader of the stars. It imagines reciting all four holy books and being honored in nav khand, all nine parts of the world. Even then, remembering the true Word matters more than any square.
Jhoothay cha-ukay naankaa: such squares are false, says Nanak. Sachaa ayko so-ay: only the One is true. The verse is about the habit of drawing lines to shut people out. It is aimed at empty rules, never at any community. Think of a group that says, "No one else can sit here." What makes a place holy is the One, and the One is with everyone.
Have you ever seen a rule that pushed people apart instead of bringing them together?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI