Our souls have been wandering under the control of the mind and the outgoing faculties and have been defiled by impressions of the outside world, so much so, that we have become identified with the body and forgotten our own self and God. How to purify the mind from the dirt of sins and free the soul from the bondage of matter, forms the subject matter of this stanza. To make His Will one’s own, by communion with the Ward, is the only means to this end.
Actions, good or bad, fail to procure communion within, as they keep one attached to the outward observances, which bind the soul to matter.
Lord Krishna says:
Good or bad actions are fetters, which equally bind the soul to the world, irrespective of whether they are of gold or of iron.
The horizon of mind is darkened with the mists of sin gathered in previous births. Until these are cleared away, the Sun of Divinity cannot shine Forth in full Glory. Holy Naam – the Divine Word – and naught else clears the mists away and restores the mind to its original transparency. There is no holier sanctuary than that of the Purified mind.
Stanza XX
When the hands, feet and the body are besmeared they are washed clean with water; when the clothes get dirty and polluted, they are cleansed by soap; when one’s mind gets defiled by sin, it can be purified only by communion with the Word. Men do not become Saints or sinners merely by words. But they carry deeds with them wherever they go. As one sows, so does one reap; oh Nanak, men come and go by the wheel1 of birth and death as ordained by His Will.
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Explanation: 1) The inexorable Law of Karma or the Law of Cause and Effect also works under His Will.