Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
O One, I just want to stay in the shelter of Your good and holy people.
I don't feel like much on my own — but You are so generous and kind.
This is the "pause" line, the rahaa-o — the center of the shabad. It holds Ravi Daas's one simple prayer.
He asks to live in the shelter of the satsangat, the company of good and holy people. That is his whole request: just let me stay near the good-hearted.
Then he says, ham a-ugan — I have no goodness of my own — and You are so generous. That sounds hard, but it is not self-hatred. Ravi Daas is saying something honest and freeing. He cannot make himself good by his own effort, and he claims no special credit. So he comes just as he is and leans on the One's kindness.
It is like a birthday present. You do not earn it. You just open your hands. You never have to prove you are "good enough" for good things. You come humbly, and the One's kindness is given freely.
Does it feel freeing to know you don't have to earn love and kindness — only to receive them?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI