Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Chant the Lord's Name, O mind — it brings eternal peace, day and night.
Chant the Lord's Name, O mind — meditating on it, all mistakes and sins are erased.
Chant the Lord's Name, O mind — all poverty, pain, and hunger are removed.
Chant the Lord's Name, O mind — as Gurmukh, declare your love openly.
The one with good destiny inscribed by the True Lord — that is the one who chants the Naam.
Fourfold repetition as teaching structure
The Pauree repeats its core instruction four times, each time adding a different dimension of what the Naam accomplishes:
1. Eternal peace, day and night — the Name as the source of permanent peace, not circumstantial peace
2. All sins and misdeeds erased — the Name as moral cleansing; not just comfort but actual transformation of the soul's account
3. Poverty, pain, and hunger removed — the Name addresses material as well as spiritual conditions; the tradition does not separate these
4. Declare your love as Gurmukh — the Name as the medium of love-declaration; the chanting is itself the love expressed
The fourfold repetition is pedagogical — it drives the instruction into the mind through rhythm and repetition. The Pauree is designed to be sung, and the repetition creates a meditative quality in the singing itself.
"One who has such pre-ordained destiny"
Jin ke mastak dhur likhī'ā, tin nāmu japai prabh pās — "one who has such pre-ordained destiny inscribed upon his forehead by the True Lord, chants the Naam, the Name of the Lord." The Pauree closes with the destiny frame: who chants? The one whose destiny was written that way. This connects the active instruction ("chant") with the passive reality (destiny) — both are true simultaneously.
*Which of the four things the Name is said to give — peace, cleansing, removal of suffering, or love expressed — do you feel you need most right now? Why?*
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI