Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Come, dear Sikhs of the True Guru. Come and sing the true song.
Sing the Guru's song, the Word above all words.
Those who receive the One's kind glance hold this song deep in their hearts.
Drink this sweet nectar, and stay in the One's love forever. Keep the One, Keeper of the world, in mind.
Nanak says: sing this true song always.
Aavhu sikh satguroo kay pi-aariho — come, dear Sikhs of the True Guru. Gaavhu sachee banee — sing the true song. After the stern verse before it, the song throws its doors open like a festival starting. The same word, aavhu, "come!", opened an earlier verse that called the good-hearted together.
The song is called baanee-aa sir banee — the song above all songs, the Word of words. Most songs are about things, like sunsets or heroes. This one is the voice of truth itself.
Jin ka-o nadar karam hovai — those who receive nadar, the One's kind glance, hold the song hirdai samaanee, deep in the heart. The song does not just pass through the ears. It moves in and keeps singing from inside.
Then the festival food. Peevhu amrit — drink the amrit, the sweet nectar of the Name. Sadaa rahhu har rang — stay forever in the One's rang. Rang means color and dye, and also love. Gurbani uses it again and again as a picture of a change that stays. Think of a white cloth dipped in deep red dye. It soaks it up and never goes plain again.
Japihu saarigpaanee — keep in mind Saarigpaanee, "the one who holds the bow." It is an old name for Vishnu. Gurbani uses such names freely for the One beyond all names.
This verse speaks to everyone together, "you all." It is the song's moment of singing as one group. Joy is found through the Guru, and it is sung in the Sangat — people gathered together to remember the One.
What song or words do you know by heart so deeply they feel like part of you — and what have they made you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI