Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Service to the Guru is the penance above all penances.
The Dear Lord comes to dwell in the mind, and all suffering is carried away.
Then, at the Gate of the True One, you are seen as true.
Serving the Guru is the greatest spiritual practice of all.
In Guru Amar Das's time, people ranked their hard spiritual practices. They fasted, stayed awake all night, and put their bodies through the hardest trials. Such a practice is called tap. Guru Amar Das steps into that contest once and settles it. Gur sayvaa, service to the Guru, is the head of all tap.
The whole idea moves to a new place. It is no longer the body punished in a forest. It is the self given away in service. Think of the volunteers in a langar kitchen, cooking and serving food for everyone who comes. That is the practice that counts.
And its fruit is greater than any hard practice ever promised. The Dear One comes to live in the mind, and suffering is carried away. Then dar saachai deesai sachiaar — at the true Gate, you are seen as true. Not just called true, but seen that way. It is like gold tested by an expert that finally rings pure.
What is the hardest service you could do — not the most painful, but the most self-forgetting?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI