Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Acting in stubborn-mindedness saves no one. Go ahead and study all the scriptures you like — still, no one is saved by stubbornness alone.
Joining the Saadh Sangat — the company of the holy — and practicing the Shabads of the Guru: that is what saves.
Mannmukhiaa noh mukti na ho-vee, bhavjal doobai bhaaraa — the stubborn-minded (mannmukhiaa — manmukhs, self-oriented) are not liberated; they sink under the weight (bhaaraa — heavy, weighted down) of the terrifying world-ocean (bhavjal). The manmukh's characteristic is mann-mukhiaa — facing toward the self, the ego, the self-will. This self-will is described as bhaaraa — heavy. The weight of ego pulls them down in the ocean.
Simritees saastree simrahi, sagal karehee vichaaraa — they recite the Simritees and Shaastras (bodies of Hindu religious law and philosophy), they engage in all forms of deliberation and discussion. Recitation, study, intellectual engagement with the most sophisticated religious texts — none of it lifts the weight. Because the orientation is still mannmukhiaa.
Saad sangat bani gur sev-ee-ai, ubrai sabad vichaaraa — joining the Saadh Sangat and practicing the Guru's Bani through service, you are saved (ubrai — lifted up, the same word from Pauri 0) through the Shabad's wisdom. What the Simritees and Shaastras can't do, the Saadh Sangat and the Guru's Shabad can. Not because the texts are wrong but because the context of reception is different. The holy community provides the environment in which the Shabad can land at root-depth, not just at the level of intellectual engagement.
What is the difference between studying something and being changed by it — and when have you experienced the second?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI