Salok 20 in Gurmukhi and Romanized scripts

ਭੈ ਨਾਸਨ ਦੁਰਮਤਿ ਹਰਨ ਕਲਿ ਮੈ ਹਰਿ ਕੋ ਨਾਮੁ ॥

ਨਿਸਿ ਦਿਨੁ ਜੋ ਨਾਨਕ ਭਜੈ ਸਫਲ ਹੋਹਿ ਤਿਹ ਕਾਮ ॥੨੦॥

Bhai Naasan Durmat Haran Kal Mai Har Ko Naam |

Nis Din Jo Naanak Bhajai Safal Hoe Teh Kaam | 20 |

Destroyer of fear, and dispeller of every bad thought

Is the name of God in the time-death when you are caught.

Whosoever, O Naanak, with heart prays and divinity perceives,

That person with divine grace every pure desire achieves.

Commentary:

Guru Ji says it is thanks to the godly devotion that bad thoughts or bad mind, or negative mind, energy (durmat – ਦੁਰਮਤਿ – दुर्मत) cannot be created in our mind. And fear (bhai – ਭੈ – भै) cannot touch our heart. Guru Ji himself is a great example of fearlessness. Guru Ji sacrificed his life for all the humanity when Aurangzeb Ji wished to convert everyone to Islam. Guru Ji did sacrifice his life for the cause that says every individual has a choice to live according to his personal religious and spiritual belief without condemning others. Indeed, Aurangzeb Ji sentenced Guru Ji to death, along with Guru Ji’s disciples – Mati Daas Ji and Sati Daas Ji – for standing for the non-conversion of India’s people to Islam, especially Pandits Ji. Being Pandits Ji’s importance too great among the society, if he was converted, people of that village or city would have followed suit.

Returning back to the point, with this shalok, Guru Ji torches the light of hope for everyone that if our mind is in devotion our mind will be always able to understand what is good for us and for all. Then, all selfishness will die, and one will focus on the main goal: to feel the divine everywhere before death, unexpectedly, closes the door of breath forever. This body is in the web of the time, and the spider (death) will eat this body one day. That is why Guru Ji urges us to take the path of devotion as soon as possible and live a beautiful life in this world. For remembering the divine every time of our life, we will not spend our precious time in futility. So, we must choose and dedicate our life for the greater cause: knowing our true self and doing something that is at core of heart to help the world.

Time-death is Kal-yuga in Punjabi, but also in all the Indian languages. Kal-yuga can also mean the era of blindness, where only true Guru’s words are the lamp to show us a path to discover what lies beyond the world of duality.