Sikhism·Opening Banis·So Dar, Shabad 2
Verse 4 of 5

That Lord Does Not Die

ਨਾ ਓਹੁ ਮਰੈ ਨ ਹੋਵੈ ਸੋਗੁ ॥
naa oh marai na hovai sog.
That Lord does not die; there is no reason to mourn.
ਦੇਦਾ ਰਹੈ ਨ ਚੂਕੈ ਭੋਗੁ ॥
daydaa rahai na chookai bhog.
He continues to give, and His Provisions never run short.
ਗੁਣੁ ਏਹੋ ਹੋਰੁ ਨਾਹੀ ਕੋਇ ॥
gun ayho hor naahee ko-ay.
This Virtue is His alone; there is no other like Him.
ਨਾ ਕੋ ਹੋਆ ਨਾ ਕੋ ਹੋਇ ॥੩॥
naa ko ho-aa naa ko ho-ay. ||3||
There never has been, and there never will be. ||3||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

That one does not die. There is no reason to mourn.

It keeps giving — and what it gives never runs short. Its store never empties.

There has never been anything like it. There never will be.

Everything we love eventually ends — except the source of everything, which never runs dry.
The deeper layer

In a world where everything we love eventually ends — where every relationship, every season, every era passes — Guru Nanak points at the one thing that does not. Not as a consolation prize for all the loss, but as the ground that makes loss bearable.

The statement "He continues to give, and His Provisions never run short" is remarkable. The source does not run out. It is not rationing. It is not waiting to see if you deserve more. Whatever you need to live — the air, the water, the capacity to be alive in this moment — is already flowing.

A Question to Sit With

When you've lost something you loved, has there ever been a moment when you noticed that something in you was still here — still alive, still able to feel? Where do you think that came from?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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