Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
People continue wandering through 8.4 million incarnations. Without the True Guru, liberation is not obtained.
The Pandits and the silent sages read and studied until they grew weary — but attached to the love of duality, they lost their honor.
The True Guru teaches the Word of the Shabad. Without the True One, there is no other.
Char-aasi laakh phirday, rahai na bhavsataar, satgur bin mukh-i na paa-ee-ai — through 8.4 million incarnations they wander, unable to remain (rahai na) without crossing the world-ocean (bhavsataar); without the True Guru, liberation (mukh — liberation, freedom) is not obtained. The 8.4 million lifetimes teaching again — the vastness of the cycle of reincarnation for those who have not found the Guru-door. Mukh (liberation) is the GGS term for release from the cycle. It is not available through any other path.
Parhay muniay kiaa hov-ai, jai mukhoh sach na bhai-aanee — what is gained by reading and studying (parhay muniay)? Nothing (kiaa hov-ai — what comes of it?), if Truth is not their speech (mukhoh sach na bhai-aanee — if Truth is not spoken from the mouth). The Pandit who has read everything and speaks without Truth has gained nothing. The silent sage who has meditated in great austerity but is still attached to duality has gained nothing. The parhay muniay (readers and silent ones) have pursued their paths but missed the essential: sach (Truth) in their speaking and living.
Satgur sabad sunaa-i-aa, bin sacho avar na ko-ee — the True Guru teaches through the Shabad; without the True One, there is no other (avar na ko-ee — no other at all). The final statement of the composition before the closing seal: bin sacho avar na ko-ee. Without the True One — nothing. No alternative path, no secondary option, no substitute. The True Guru teaches the Shabad; the Shabad leads to the True One; and the True One is all there is.
What is something you have pursued for a long time — reading, studying, practicing — that you suspect may not be addressing the actual root of what you are looking for?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI