Keep the Good Morning and Night, and Old Mistakes Lift
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
There is only One. Its Name is Truth. It is the Creator of all. It is fearless and full of love, beyond time, never born, shining on its own. And the One is found by the Guru's grace — a gift that is always here, waiting for an open heart.
Keep the beautiful Name in your heart, O my mind, morning and night.
Old mistakes — even ones you've carried a long, long time — get set down and sent gently away.
This one says: remember the good all day and all night, and your old mistakes get set down.
This opens Raag Nat-Naaraayan. A raag is a musical mood, and Nat is the raag of the dancer. So a lively, joyful feeling runs through it. Nearly every shabad here speaks to man, which means "O my mind."
These lines are the rahao, the "pause" line. It is the center of the shabad, the part to stop and think about. Guru Ram Das gives a simple, warm instruction: mayray man jap ahinis naam haray — "O my mind, remember the Name day and night."
Then comes the promise. Huge piles of old mistakes are "put aside and sent away." Think of a heavy school bag you have carried for years. One day someone kind says, "You can put that down now." That is a fresh start, and it is offered freely.
What would it feel like to set down a heavy feeling and let it be sent gently away?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI