Sikhism·Raag Aasaa·Shabad 21
Verse 2 of 4

You Were Cared For Before You Were Even Born

ਜਨਨੀ ਕੇਰੇ ਉਦਰ ਉਦਕ ਮਹਿ ਪਿੰਡੁ ਕੀਆ ਦਸ ਦੁਆਰਾ ॥
jannee kayray udar udak meh pind kee-aa das du-aaraa.
In the water of the mother's womb, He fashioned the body with ten gates.
ਦੇਇ ਅਹਾਰੁ ਅਗਨਿ ਮਹਿ ਰਾਖੈ ਐਸਾ ਖਸਮੁ ਹਮਾਰਾ ॥੧॥
day-ay ahaar agan meh raakhai aisaa khasam hamaaraa. ||1||
He gives it sustenance, and preserves it in fire - such is my Lord and Master. ||1||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Before you were even born, the One shaped your body and kept you safe and warm in the womb.

It fed you and protected you there — that's the kind of caring One we have.

You were cared for completely before you were even born — the One's care comes first, freely, from the very beginning.
The deeper layer

Dhanna's first proof of the One's care is the most intimate one: in the water of the mother's womb, He fashioned your body, and gives it sustenance and preserves it — kept safe and warm and fed before you could do anything for yourself. Think about it, Dhanna says: you were cared for completely before you were even born, before you'd earned anything or asked for anything. Such is my Lord and Master — this is the kind of One we have, one whose care comes first, freely, from the very beginning. For a child, it's a deeply reassuring foundation: the One's care isn't something you have to earn; it was already wrapped around you before your first breath. You have been provided for from the very start.

A Question to Sit With

Does it comfort you to think you were being cared for even before you were born?

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

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