Sikhism·Raag Saarang·Shabad 149
Verse 3 of 3

Speak It, Hear It, Be Free

ਹਰਿ ਚਰਨ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਿ ਨੀਤ ਨੀਤਿ ਪਾਵਨਾ ਮਹਿ ਮਹਾ ਪੁਨੀਤ ॥
har charan pareet neet neet paavnaa meh mahaa puneet.
Love the Lord's Feet, continually and continuously - the most sacred and sanctified.
ਸੇਵਕ ਭੈ ਦੂਰਿ ਕਰਨ ਕਲਿਮਲ ਦੋਖ ਜਾਰੇ ॥
sayvak bhai door karan kalimal dokh jaaray.
Fear is taken away from the servant of the Lord, and the dirty sins and mistakes of the past are burnt away.
ਕਹਤ ਮੁਕਤ ਸੁਨਤ ਮੁਕਤ ਰਹਤ ਜਨਮ ਰਹਤੇ ॥
kahat mukat sunat mukat rahat janam rahtay.
Those who speak are liberated, and those who listen are liberated; those who keep the Rehit, the Code of Conduct, are not reincarnated again.
ਰਾਮ ਰਾਮ ਸਾਰ ਭੂਤ ਨਾਨਕ ਤਤੁ ਬੀਚਾਰੇ ॥੨॥੪॥੧੩੩॥
raam raam saar bhoot naanak tat beechaaray. ||2||4||133||
The Lord's Name is the most sublime essence; Nanak contemplates the nature of reality. ||2||4||133||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Love the One, day after day after day — the most sacred thing there is. It lifts fear right out of a heart, and the old dust and mistakes are burned clean.

The one who speaks the Name is set free, and the one who listens is set free too; the one who lives by it comes home and stops the endless circling. Nanak says: Raam, Raam, the Naam of the One, is the deepest essence of everything, and resting there, you touch the heart of what is true.

Speak it or hear it — both are doors into the same freedom.
The deeper layer

Loving the One day after day lifts fear out of the heart and frees both the one who speaks the Name and the one who listens (kahat mukat, sunat mukat); the Name is the deepest essence (saar bhoot), and resting there one touches the heart of what is real (tat). Speaking and listening are two doors into the same freedom.

A Question to Sit With

Do you feel freer when you speak what you love, or when you listen to it?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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