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Sikhism·Raag Soohee·Shabad 126
Verse 4 of 67

Ornaments That Never Stain

ਸਲੋਕੁ ਮਃ ੩ ॥
salok mehlaa 3.
Shalok, Third Mehl:
ਸੂਹਬ ਤਾ ਸੋਹਾਗਣੀ ਜਾ ਮੰਨਿ ਲੈਹਿ ਸਚੁ ਨਾਉ ॥
soohab taa sohaaganee jaa man laihi sach naa-o.
The red-robed woman becomes a happy soul-bride, only when she accepts the True Name.
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਅਪਣਾ ਮਨਾਇ ਲੈ ਰੂਪੁ ਚੜੀ ਤਾ ਅਗਲਾ ਦੂਜਾ ਨਾਹੀ ਥਾਉ ॥
satgur apnaa manaa-ay lai roop charhee taa aglaa doojaa naahee thaa-o.
Become pleasing to your True Guru, and you shall be totally beautified; otherwise, there is no place of rest.
ਐਸਾ ਸੀਗਾਰੁ ਬਣਾਇ ਤੂ ਮੈਲਾ ਕਦੇ ਨ ਹੋਵਈ ਅਹਿਨਿਸਿ ਲਾਗੈ ਭਾਉ ॥
aisaa seegaar banaa-ay too mailaa kaday na hova-ee ahinis laagai bhaa-o.
So decorate yourself with the decorations that will never stain, and love the Lord day and night.
ਨਾਨਕ ਸੋਹਾਗਣਿ ਕਾ ਕਿਆ ਚਿਹਨੁ ਹੈ ਅੰਦਰਿ ਸਚੁ ਮੁਖੁ ਉਜਲਾ ਖਸਮੈ ਮਾਹਿ ਸਮਾਇ ॥੧॥
naanak sohagan kaa ki-aa chihan hai andar sach mukh ujlaa khasmai maahi samaa-ay. ||1||
O Nanak, what is the character of the happy soul-bride? Within her, is Truth; her face is bright and radiant, and she is absorbed in her Lord and Master. ||1||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Your heart truly settles at home the moment you take the True Name to heart.

Some decorations wash off or get dirty. But there is a way of shining that never stains: living close to the One day and night, letting that love be your real adornment.

How can you tell a heart that is at home? It has truth inside it. Its face is bright and open. And it is soaked in the One, the way a cloth is soaked in dye.

The only adornment that never wears off is a heart living close to the One.
The deeper layer

mannai = accepting, inner alignment (not mere belief) — jaa mann laihi sach naa-o. seegaar = adornment, here inner virtue rather than outward finery. andar sach, mukh ujlaa = truth within shows as a bright, open face. The unfading ornament is bhaa-o, love, that never soils.

A Question to Sit With

What is something about a person that makes them shine that has nothing to do with how they look?

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

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