Those who do not have faith in the Primal Being, the True Guru, and who do not enshrine love for the Shabad
ਇਸਨਾਨੁ ਦਾਨੁ ਜੇਤਾ ਕਰਹਿ ਦੂਜੈ ਭਾਇ ਖੁਆਰੁ ॥
isnaan daan jaytaa karahi doojai bhaa-ay khu-aar.
-they take their cleansing baths, and give to charity again and again, but they are ultimately consumed by their love of duality.
ਹਰਿ ਜੀਉ ਆਪਣੀ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾ ਕਰੇ ਤਾ ਲਾਗੈ ਨਾਮ ਪਿਆਰੁ ॥
har jee-o aapnee kirpaa karay taa laagai naam pi-aar.
When the Dear Lord Himself grants His Grace, they are inspired to love the Naam.
ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਮੁ ਸਮਾਲਿ ਤੂ ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਹੇਤਿ ਅਪਾਰਿ ॥੫॥੨੦॥੫੩॥
naanak naam samaal too gur kai hayt apaar. ||5||20||53||
O Nanak, immerse yourself in the Naam, through the Infinite Love of the Guru. ||5||20||53||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In plain words
Without faith, one is not loved by the True Lord. And the door of liberation is not found.
Without the True Teacher, the door is not found. And without finding it, the cycle continues.
O Nanak, truth is the most excellent state of all — obtained by the Gurmukh, the True is found.
The path from ancient misery to the Most Excellent State runs through faith, the Guru, and the Name.
The deeper layer
The final pauri of this six-pauri shabad reinforces the sequence: faith → love of the True Lord → door of liberation found. Each step requires the previous.
Uttam padam returns again — the Most Excellent State. The journey ends in Truth (sach), found by the one who follows the Gurmukh path. The circle of the shabad closes: from misery in all four ages (Pauri 0) to the Most Excellent State (Pauri 5).
A Question to Sit With
If you could describe the 'most excellent state' of your life — what you are at your best, most real, most free — what does that look like? How close is your daily life to that?
