Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You could read the oldest, wisest books for a thousand years, but if love is missing, the heart's restlessness stays.
When the ego takes over — that feeling of being a separate, hungry self — we forget the Name, and get pulled toward things that never quite satisfy.
That is a real hunger and thirst inside, and no shopping and no showing-off ever fills it.
But something shifts when we serve the True Guru and reflect on the true Word: peace arrives.
The inner hunger quiets down, because now the heart is in love with what is real.
Nanak says: those who hold the One close find themselves naturally, easily full — satisfied without even trying.
No amount of reading can fill a heart that has no love in it.
This verse again speaks to the pandit. It honors the Vedas, the oldest holy books of India. Its point is that reading them jug chaar, for four whole ages, still cannot clean the heart if love is missing.
It names the cause. Tarai gun are the three moods, lazy, busy and calm, that make up maa-i-aa, the pull of the world. Then comes ha-umai, the ego, and we forget the Name. What follows is tarisnaa bhukh, thirst and hunger inside. Think of a phone game that always wants one more level. You never feel finished.
The verse is blunt about people who stay hungry like this. Its answer is gentle. Naam ratay sehjay rajay: those soaked in the Name are full sehjay, easily, without even trying. That word points to sahaj, the natural calm of a settled heart.
Have you ever gotten something you wanted badly and still felt like something was missing? What do you think that hunger was for?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI