Do The Things That Set You Free

ਸੋ ਕਿਛੁ ਕਰਿ ਜਿਤੁ ਛੁਟਹਿ ਪਰਾਨੀ ॥

so kichh kar jit chhuteh paraanee.

Do only those deeds which will save you, O mortal being.

ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਜਪਿ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਬਾਨੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

har har naam jap amrit baanee. ||1|| rahaa-o.

Chant the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, and the Ambrosial Word of His Bani. ||1||Pause||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Choose the actions that actually lighten and free you, not the ones that tie you up tighter.

Keep the Name of the One in mind, and let the nectar-sweet words of the teaching stay with you.

Pick the actions that free you, not the ones that tie you down.

The deeper layer

This verse gives simple advice: do the things that set you free.

This is the Rahao, the "pause" line. It is the center of the shabad, the advice the other verses lead to.

So kichh kar jit chhuteh paraanee: do that which frees you. Chhuteh means to be let loose, like a knot being untied.

Har har naam jap amrit baanee: keep the Name of the One, and the amrit baanee, the nectar-sweet Word. Baanee means the Guru's words.

Think of a backpack full of rocks. Some choices add more rocks. Others take them out. The verse says: pick the ones that make you lighter.

A Question to Sit With

Which of your habits make you feel lighter, and which make you feel stuck?

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

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