Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
One who serves the Guru comes to know the Lord and Master.
Their pains are erased, and the True Word of the Shabad rings clear inside them.
This one opens a hymn about getting tangled, and it starts with the way out: whoever serves the Guru comes to know the Master.
This hymn is an Ik-Tukee Ashtapadee: eight short verses, each a single couplet, landing one after another like drumbeats. Most of it lists the ways people get caught in janjaal, a net or snare. But look at the order. Guru Nanak gives the cure first.
Gur sayvay so thaakur jaanai — "the one who serves the Guru knows the Master." Dookh mitai sach sabad pachhaanai — their pain is wiped away, and they recognize the true Word, the Shabad.
Think of a maze puzzle where someone first shows you the exit. Then, however twisty the paths get, you are not scared. That kindness is built into the hymn. You are never shown the trap before you are shown the way out.
What does it actually look like, in an ordinary day, to serve the Guru?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI