Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Heavenly beings and silent sages search for amrit, the sweet nectar of life. This amrit comes from the Guru.
This amrit is received when the Guru gives grace and places the True One in your mind.
You made every living being. Only some come to see the Guru and ask for a blessing.
Their grabbing, their greed and their pride melt away, and the True Guru feels sweet to them.
Nanak says: those the One is pleased with receive the amrit through the Guru.
Sur nar mun jan amrit khojday — angelic beings, humans, silent sages, all searching for amrit — so amrit gur tay paa-i-aa — and that very amrit is obtained from the Guru. Mythology's most famous quest (the churning of the ocean for the nectar of immortality, over which gods and demons warred) finds its prize moved: the amrit is not a substance to be won but an inner transformation received through awakened wisdom, by grace (gur kirpaa keenee), when the True One comes to dwell in the mind (sachaa man vasaa-i-aa).
The verification is behavioral, not mystical: lab lobh ahaNkaar chookaa — greed, avarice, and egotism are dispelled — satguroo bhalaa bhaa-i-aa — and the True Guru becomes sweet, beloved. Anand Sahib repeatedly gives this test: the proof of nectar is what dissolves in it. If the passions still rule, whatever was drunk was not amrit. Compare verse 32's tongue (other tastes never quench; the Har Ras ends thirst) — the bani's chemistry is consistent.
Note also the quiet line: ik vaykh parsan aa-i-aa — of all created beings, some come to see and seek the blessing. The nectar is universally available and selectively received — verse 8's grace-logic again. The searchers scour heaven and earth; the finders simply turn toward the wisdom and ask. Distance was never the obstacle; direction was.
If a magic drink could make one bad habit disappear, which would you choose — and what helps it fade?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI