Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
All that reading done in the love of Maya — false. All that talking done in the love of Maya — false.
Without the Name, nothing is permanent. Those who read and read endlessly without the Name — they ruin themselves.
The critique of empty scholarship
Hor paṛhnā jhuṭh, hor bolṇā jhuṭh, mayā lāgi jāi — "false is other reading, and false is other speaking, in the love of Maya." The word hor (other, else) is doing key work here: other reading, other speaking — the reading and speaking that is about something other than the Lord. Reading and speaking are not false in themselves. What makes them false is the orientation: done in the love of Maya (done for worldly reasons — status, money, reputation, entertainment) rather than for the Name.
"Those who read and read are ruined"
Nānak vinu nāmai kichhu tikke naahi, parrhe parrhe nedam hoā'i — "O Nanak, without the Name, nothing is permanent; those who read and read are ruined." The irony: those who dedicate themselves most to reading (scholars, pandits, religious specialists) are, if they read without the Name, the ones most at risk of ruining themselves through their reading. The investment in external knowledge without inner transformation is a wasted investment.
This pairs with the critique of the pandits in Pauri12 and P39: the scholarly apparatus itself is not the problem; the problem is scholarship in the service of Maya.
*Have you ever learned a lot about something and still felt empty afterward? What was the difference between that and learning something that genuinely changed you?*
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI