Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The demon's son Prahlaad had not read about religious rituals or ceremonies, austerity or self-discipline. He did not know the love of duality.
Meeting the True Guru, he became pure. Night and day, he chanted the Naam.
He read only of the One. He understood only the One Name. He knew no other at all.
This line says: Prahlad had no religious training at all, but he knew the One Name, and that was enough.
Dait put: the son of a dait, a demon king. The boy is Prahlad. His father, Harnakash, claimed there was no God but himself. Prahlad grew up in that house.
Karam dharam kichh sanjam na parhai: he had not studied rituals, religious duties or strict self-training. Doojaa bhaa-o na jaanai: and he did not know doojaa bhaa-o, a heart pulled two ways.
He is introduced by what he did not have. No schooling in religion, no rituals, nothing to show. So he had nothing to unlearn.
Satgur bhayti-ai nirmal ho-aa: meeting the True Guru, he became nirmal, pure and clean. An-din naam vakhaanai: day and night he spoke the Naam, the Name. No long preparation. Just the meeting and the Name.
Ayko parhai ayko naa-o boojhai: he read only the One, and understood only the One Name. Doojaa avar na jaanai: he knew no other at all. Hear how "one" keeps coming back, again and again.
Think of a compass. It does not need a thick book of maps. It only needs to know north. Prahlad's whole life pointed one way: to the Name.
What would it be like to approach the divine with absolutely no religious knowledge — just the Name and a living encounter — and what might that actually feel like?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI