Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A hermit who has let go is one who burns away their own pride.
They ask for hardship as their food. In the city of their own heart, they go begging for gifts.
A person who lets go like this rises to the City of the One.
Gorakh says: the One is Truth itself. The highest reality has no outline and no form.
Letting go means burning away self-conceit (haumai, the feeling of being a separate self), not putting on a costume. The begging that counts happens inward, in the city of the heart, and it rises to the City of the One.
The verse is spoken in the name of Gorakh, the great founder-figure of the Naths. Guru Nanak speaks the yogis' own ideals back to them, honoring the search and turning it inward through devotion.
What pride would you be lighter without?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI