Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Serving the Guru, one comes to understand all three worlds.
Understanding your own self, you find the Lord.
And through the True Bani, you enter the Mansion of His Presence.
To find the One, come to know your own true self.
The middle line is the jewel of this shabad. Aap pachhaan har paavai so-ay — whoever recognizes their own self finds the One. For Guru Amar Das this is a compass. Knowing yourself is not one practice among many. It is the doorway itself.
A nearby shabad by Guru Nanak says it even more boldly: whoever truly knows the soul finds it is one with the Supreme Soul. Guru Amar Das gives the same truth as a way to walk.
The verse moves in an exact order. First, serving the Guru opens up understanding of the taribhavan, the three worlds, meaning all of creation. Next, that understanding turns inward, to the self. Last, the one who knows themselves walks through the Bani, the Guru's Word, into the Mahal. The Mahal is the palace of the One's Presence. Think of searching the whole house for your glasses, then finding them on your own head. The Presence was never anywhere else.
How well do you actually know yourself — what you fear, what you love, what moves you — and how would you find out?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI