Verse 11 of 12
Savaiye in Praise of Guru Arjun, the Fifth (Bhatt Kall), Verse 11 — the Naam, the boat and the bridge
ਭਵਜਲੁ ਸਾਇਰੁ ਸੇਤੁ ਨਾਮੁ ਹਰੀ ਕਾ ਬੋਹਿਥਾ ॥
bhavjal saa-ir sayt naam haree kaa bohithaa.
The Lord's Name is the Boat, the Bridge to cross over the terrifying world-ocean.
ਤੁਅ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਸੰ ਹੇਤੁ ਨਾਮਿ ਲਾਗਿ ਜਗੁ ਉਧਰ੍ਯ੍ਯਉ ॥੨॥
tu-a satgur saN hayt naam laag jag uDhar-yao. ||2||
You are in love with the True Guru; attached to the Naam, You have saved the world. ||2||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Naam of the One is the boat and the bridge that carry you across the wild, frightening ocean of the world.
You love the True Guru, and holding on to the Naam, you have carried the whole world across.
Love that carries you across tends to lift others along with you.
The Naam is the boat and the bridge across the frightening ocean of the world.
Bhavjal saa-ir is the world pictured as a wild ocean, and the Naam is both bohithaa (a boat) and sayt (a bridge) to cross it. Naam laag jag udhar-yao means that holding on to the Naam, the world is carried across: one person's love for the Guru lifts many others with it.
A Question to Sit With
When you found your way through something hard, who else did it help?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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