Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The counterfeit coins are not put in the treasury. They don't pass the test. Those carrying them don't receive the vision they came for.
The false ones have no real standing. No one succeeds through falsehood.
Practicing falsehood again and again, people come and go, forfeiting their honor.
The khote (false, counterfeit) coin image is one of Gurbani's most precise: the coin that looks like gold but isn't is worthless at the moment of exchange. The treasury — the divine presence — is not deceived by appearance.
"No one succeeds through falsehood" — jhooth sukh na hoi — this is empirical, not just moral. Falsehood, structurally, cannot produce genuine peace. It can produce temporary relief, but the inner incoherence remains.
What's the difference between genuinely earning something and just appearing to have earned it? Does the difference matter if no one else knows?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI