Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Lift me up out of this deep, dark well of the world, O beloved One. I have come to You for shelter, and I'm holding on.
This last line is a reach of the hands: lift me up.
"Sansaar koop tay uDhar lai" — lift me out of the deep pit of the world. A koop is a deep well. It is dark, easy to fall into, and hard to climb out of alone.
The last word is "sarnaa-ay": sanctuary, a safe place to shelter.
After all the longing, the trust and the letting go, the song ends where a child ends when things are too much: arms up, asking to be picked up, holding on tight. Think of being stuck in a deep pool and seeing a hand reach down. You do not argue. You grab it.
With this line the song of longing ends, and so does the group of longer songs, the Ashtapadees (songs of eight verses), that it belongs to. It ends in a humble, true way to stand before the One: lift me, I am holding on. And that is enough.
Who do you reach for when you feel like you're in over your head?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI