changai mandai aap laa-i-an so karan je aap karaa-ay kartaar. ||2||
He Himself enjoins them to good and bad; they do only that which the Creator Lord causes them to do. ||2||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In plain words
Singing in Raamkalee, I set the One in my mind, and that made me beautiful.
Through the Guru's Word, the lotus of my heart opened, and the One gave me a treasure of devotion.
My doubt went away, and I woke up. The darkness of not-knowing was gone.
Whoever loves the One is beautiful beyond measure.
Such a bride, glowing with honor, enjoys her Beloved forever.
Those who follow only their own mind do not know how to make themselves beautiful. They lose their whole life, and go.
Those who dress up without devotion to the One are born again and again, and suffer.
They find no honor in this world, and what happens to them after, only the Creator knows.
Nanak says: the True One is One alone. The split into two exists only in the world.
The One sets people to good and to bad. They do what the Creator has them do.
Love inside is the beauty that lasts; dressing up without it wastes a life.
The deeper layer
Singing in Raamkalee, the very raag these words are set to, the One settles in the mind. The heart-lotus blossoms through the Shabad, doubt is dispelled, and the sleeper wakes, a favorite image of Guru Amar Das. The soul-bride's beauty lives entirely in inner love, not outer decoration. The True One is the only reality, and duality belongs to the world's way of seeing.
A Question to Sit With
What is a beauty you have seen that came entirely from the inside?
