Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You may be respected as a spiritual teacher. You may be welcomed everywhere you go. You may have a great name, and people may believe you have special powers.
Even so — if you haven't touched the True Name, none of it will help you when the real accounting comes.
The court of the oneness is not impressed by reputations. It sees what is actually there.
This pauri is directed at religious figures specifically. A Pir was a Sufi spiritual teacher — a revered authority in Islamic traditions of Guru Nanak's time. Even this status, Guru Nanak says, is not sufficient without the real thing.
This is consistent with his position throughout his life: he respected no spiritual hierarchy that was based on lineage, title, or reputation rather than actual alignment with truth. True authority is lived, not claimed.
What do you think is the difference between someone who is genuinely good and someone who is very good at looking good?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI