Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Hearing the story of the One, a person becomes pure.
Speaking it with the tongue, they find the way to freedom.
Whoever keeps the One in the heart is accepted.
Nanak says: such humble people are the highest of all, my brothers and sisters.
Hearing and speaking about the One make us clean, and the humble are lifted high.
Har kee kathaa sunat pavit — hearing about the One makes you pure. Jihvaa bakat — speaking it aloud — you find the way through. So listening and speaking work together. Japji Sahib says the same about deep listening, which it calls Suniai.
The one who keeps the One in the heart is the one who is welcomed. Then the last line: tay jan ootam — such humble people are the highest of all.
That flips the usual idea of greatness. In Gurbani, being great is not about how high you stand. It is about how small your ego is. Think of the best player on a team who passes the ball and cheers loudest for everyone else.
Who is someone you admire who never brags about themselves?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI