Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Suppose someone counts the special days and keeps careful vows on each one. Here is a set of vows worth far more than the calendar.
Make a promise to speak the truth, and watch how craving and anger quietly lose their fuel. Learn to steady your senses instead of letting them run you. Come to know that the One is One. Get gentle mastery over the five restless pulls inside — wanting, anger, greed, clinging, and pride — and then, Nanak says, your mind settles and is at peace. That is a fast worth keeping. Everything else is just extra.
The best fast is an inner one: truth, calm senses, and a steady mind.
It is a shalok, a short verse, by Guru Amar Das, the third Guru. He speaks to a Pandit, a learned teacher of old books. Many people keep special days of the moon's calendar with vows and fasts. The Guru takes four of those days and gives each one an inner meaning.
On the ninth day, vow to speak the truth. Then kaam krodh trisnaa — strong wanting, anger, and craving — get used up. On the tenth, look after your dasay du-aar, the ten doors, meaning the senses. On the eleventh, know that the One is One. On the twelfth, bring the panch under control. The panch are the five thieves: wanting, anger, greed, clinging, and pride.
Aisaa varat raheejai — keep a fast like this. The Guru asks what use other teachings are without it. The point is not against any practice. It turns the practice inward. Think of cleaning your room by shoving everything under the bed. It looks tidy, but the real cleaning is sorting what is inside.
Which of the five restless pulls — wanting, anger, greed, clinging, pride — is loudest in you right now?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI