Phunhay, Verse 11 — longing like a bird for rain
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The rainbird, with all its heart, longs for its friend, the rain.
It longs for the one its very breath is tied to.
Sad, it wanders from forest to forest for a single drop of water.
O Lord! In the same way, the One's servant begs for the Naam. Nanak says: I give myself to that servant.
The One's servant longs for the Naam the way the rainbird longs for rain.
The chaatrik is the rainbird of Indian poems. It is said to drink only drops of rain, so it calls and calls for the rain clouds. Jis sang laagay paraan: its very breath is tied to that rain.
Ban ban firat udaas: it wanders sadly from forest to forest for one drop. Ti-o har jan maa(n)gai naam: in the same way, the servant of the One asks for the Naam. Guru Arjan, signing as Nanak, gives himself to such a servant.
What do you long for so deeply that nothing else quite replaces it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI