Sikhism·Raag Aasaa·Shabad 297
Verse 4 of 8

Set Down the Belief That Everything Depends on You

ਜੋ ਤੂੰ ਕਰਾਵਹਿ ਸੋ ਕਰੀ ਪਿਆਰੇ ਅਵਰੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਕਰਣੁ ਨ ਜਾਇ ॥੪॥
jo tooN karaaveh so karee pi-aaray avar kichh karan na jaa-ay. ||4||
Whatever You cause me to do, that I do, O Beloved; I cannot do anything else. ||4||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Whatever You set me to do, that's what I do. On my own, I can't really make anything happen.

There's a deep relief in setting down the belief that everything depends only on you.
The deeper layer

This one says: I am not doing this all alone. The One is guiding my hands.

Whatever You have me do, I do. "Avar kichh karan na jaa-ay" — I cannot do anything else on my own.

Read coldly, that might sound like having no freedom. But in this song it feels like relief. So much of our worry comes from believing everything depends on our own small effort.

Here the singer puts that heavy bag down. I am not the lonely author of my life. I am a hand moved by a wisdom bigger than mine.

It is how a tired child feels when a parent carries them. You stop straining, because you trust who is holding you.

A Question to Sit With

When has it felt good to let someone wiser take the lead instead of carrying it all yourself?

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

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