Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Worship only the True One, the Source that everything comes from.
The perfect teacher showed me this: there truly is no other.
Without the Name, people wither in numbers past counting; without what is real, the heart never comes clean.
The world's prizes are passing and its coming-and-going never stops — but one who lives by the teaching can lift countless others with even a grain of the Name.
Only the True One can make you clean inside, and there is no one else.
This is the rahaa-o, the "pause" line, the center of the shabad. Tis bin avar na ko-ay — without the One, there is no other at all. Everything comes from that one Source.
Naam vihoonay pach mu-ay — without the Name, people wither away, more than anyone could count. Think of a plant left in a dark cupboard. It does not need to be hit to fade. It just needs light, and has none.
Vin sach soch na paa-ee-ai — without the real, you cannot get truly clean inside. Jhoothee dunee manee — pride in the world's prizes is jhooth, false. It washes off like cheap paint in the rain.
Then comes a generous turn. The gurmukh, a person who faces the Guru, can lift millions of people. They give away even one kanee, one tiny grain, of the Name. Goodness spills outward. It is never hoarded.
What is something you once thought you badly wanted, but later saw didn't really matter?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI