Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Whoever has never come to know the essence of their own soul —
all their religious acts are hollow and empty.
Beni says: turn toward the Guru, and meditate on the One.
Without the True Guru, you will not find the way.
Every outer practice stays hollow until you meet your true self inside.
Beni ends by naming what every earlier verse was missing. Jin aatam tat na cheenHi-aa: whoever has never come to know the aatam tat, the heart of the soul. Sabh fokat Dharam abeeni-aa: all their religious acts are fokat, hollow.
This is the big turn of the shabad. It does not throw out worship. It puts worship in the right order: inside first, then outside. Kaho baynee gurmukh Dhi-aavai: Beni says, turn toward the Guru and remember the One. Bin satgur baat na paavai: without the True Guru, you will not find the way. All the earlier verses were like clearing a messy room. Now the door in the middle of it can be seen.
What might you find if you turned your attention gently inward and got quiet?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI