Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Her enjoyment of all pleasures is futile, and all her decorations are hollow, until she has been pierced through with the word of the teaching.
The face that has been reached by the word — that face is recognized and welcomed at the gate.
O Nanak, blessed is that woman — that soul — who knows her Husband Lord. She alone is the truly beautiful one.
The closing pauri resolves the discarded-bride image: the face that is truly beautiful is the one "pierced through" by the Shabad. This is the inner transformation — not the outer adornment — that constitutes genuine beauty in Gurbani's aesthetic.
The Gurmukhi word for "pierced" (vedhee) carries the same root as the Sanskrit veda — to know, to pierce through to the truth. Being pierced by the Shabad is being deeply, permanently changed by the teaching.
What does it mean to you to be genuinely beautiful — not in looks, but in character? What does that look like in someone you admire?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI