Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You may do cleansing exercises, stir up the fire of inner energy, and breathe in, breathe out, and hold your breath.
But without the True Guru there is no understanding; lost in doubt, you sink and drown.
Someone who cannot see inside is full of dirt; they wash and wash, yet the dirt inside never comes off.
Without the Naam, all these deeds are empty, like a magician fooling people with tricks.
Washing the outside cannot clean the inside; without the Naam, every practice is empty.
nivlee karam bhu-angam bhaathee raychak poorak kumbh karai — a person may do nivlee, a belly-cleansing exercise. They may stir up the "furnace" of inner energy, and breathe in, out, and hold the breath. These are yoga practices.
bin satgur kichh sojhee naahee — without the true Guru, there is no real understanding. Doubt keeps a person going in circles.
anDhaa bhari-aa bhar bhar Dhovai — someone who can't see inside keeps washing and washing. antar kee mal kaday na lahai — but the dirt inside never comes off.
Think of polishing the outside of a lunchbox that still has old food inside. It shines, but it still smells. naam binaa fokat sabh karmaa — without the Naam, all these actions are empty, ji-o baajeegar — like a stage magician's trick.
Yoga and other practices have their place. Outward practice without the Naam is hollow, and the same warning fits every path, including our own.
What is something that looks clean or finished on the outside but still needs care underneath?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI