Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
There is only One. And the One is found by the True Guru's grace — a gift that is always here, waiting for an open heart.
What have you gained by listening to the old sacred stories?
Steady love for the One has not grown in you, and you have not given to the hungry.
If listening to holy stories doesn't make you kinder, what did it do?
This is the rahaa-o, the "pause" line, the center of the shabad. It is by Bhagat Parmaanand, a poet-saint whose songs are in the Guru Granth Sahib.
He asks a searching question. What did all that listening to the Puraanas, the old sacred stories, actually do? Love for the One never grew. And a hungry person still went without food.
This is the fair, evenhanded spirit of the Bhagats, the saint-poets. It is about empty habits in any tradition, not about any people or their holy books.
Think of reading a book about swimming but never getting in the pool. The real test is what changes in how you live.
When has something you learned changed how you treated someone?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI