Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Hold tight to the edge of a good and holy person's robe.
Then you will be carried safely across the wide, frightening ocean of the world.
This one says you can cross the scariest water by holding on to someone who is already crossing.
The songs of missing end like a boat reaching the shore. Anchal gahi-aa saadh kaa — grasp the hem of the holy person's robe. Bhai saagar paar paraa-ay — and cross the frightening ocean. Bhai saagar means the ocean of fear, the hard sea of life.
Holding the hem is a small child's move. Think of a little one gripping a parent's jacket in a crowded train station, so as not to get lost. The child does not know the way. The child only holds on.
That is the whole way these songs have been singing toward. You do not beat the ocean with your own strength. You hold on to someone good who is already crossing. Longing that began as giving everything ends as a small, trusting grip. And that grip is enough.
Whose 'hem' do you hold onto when you feel lost in a crowd or afraid?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI