Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Nanak speaks words as sweet as nectar: Listen, Machhindra, this is the mark of a true hermit.
Whoever lives among all their hopes but holds them loosely, without grasping, Nanak says, will surely find the Creator.
The badge of a seeker is worn inside.
Guru Nanak speaks again to Machhindra, the yogi master. He tells him the neesaanee — the true mark, the badge — of a real hermit. Yogis were known by outer badges: robes, ash on the skin, big ear-rings. Guru Nanak points somewhere else.
Aasaa maahi niraas valaa-ay — living among hopes, yet not grabbing at them. You still hope and plan. You just hold it all loosely, with an open hand.
Think of holding a small bird. Squeeze too hard and you hurt it. Hold it gently and it can rest in your palm. Hopes held gently like that leave the heart free.
Guru Nanak calls these words amrit banee, nectar-words. Amrit is sweet, life-giving nectar. The teaching comes gently, and the mark it gives is a calm heart, not a costume. The one who lives like this surely finds the Creator.
How can you tell whether someone is kind on the inside, not just acting it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI