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Sikhism·Raag Aasaa·Shabad 307
Verse 3 of 4

Love Deeply and You Forget to Sleep or Eat

ਮੇਰਾ ਠਾਕੁਰੋ ਠਾਕੁਰੁ ਨੀਕਾ ਅਗਮ ਅਥਾਹਾ ਰਾਮ ॥
mayraa thaakuro thaakur neekaa agam athaahaa raam.
My Lord, my Lord Master is sublime, unapproachable and unfathomable.
ਹਰਿ ਪੂਜੀ ਹਰਿ ਪੂਜੀ ਚਾਹੀ ਮੇਰੇ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਸਾਹਾ ਰਾਮ ॥
har poojee har poojee chaahee mayray satgur saahaa raam.
The wealth of the Lord - I seek the wealth of the Lord, from my True Guru, the Divine Banker.
ਹਰਿ ਪੂਜੀ ਚਾਹੀ ਨਾਮੁ ਬਿਸਾਹੀ ਗੁਣ ਗਾਵੈ ਗੁਣ ਭਾਵੈ ॥
har poojee chaahee naam bisaahee gun gaavai gun bhaavai.
I seek the wealth of the Lord, to purchase the Naam; I sing and love the Glorious Praises of the Lord.
ਨੀਦ ਭੂਖ ਸਭ ਪਰਹਰਿ ਤਿਆਗੀ ਸੁੰਨੇ ਸੁੰਨਿ ਸਮਾਵੈ ॥
need bhookh sabh parhar ti-aagee sunnay sunn samaavai.
I have totally renounced sleep and hunger, and through deep meditation, I am absorbed into the Absolute Lord.
ਵਣਜਾਰੇ ਇਕ ਭਾਤੀ ਆਵਹਿ ਲਾਹਾ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਲੈ ਜਾਹੇ ॥
vanjaaray ik bhaatee aavahi laahaa har naam lai jaahay.
The traders of one kind come and take away the Name of the Lord as their profit.
ਨਾਨਕ ਮਨੁ ਤਨੁ ਅਰਪਿ ਗੁਰ ਆਗੈ ਜਿਸੁ ਪ੍ਰਾਪਤਿ ਸੋ ਪਾਏ ॥੩॥
naanak man tan arap gur aagai jis paraapat so paa-ay. ||3||
O Nanak, dedicate your mind and body to the Guru; one who is so destined, attains it. ||3||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

I went to the wise Teacher like going to a banker, asking for the richest treasure of all.

I wanted it so much I forgot to sleep or eat — and I sang, and loved, and slowly melted into the One.

When you love something deeply, you forget to sleep or eat — that kind of attention is its own gift.
The deeper layer

The verse uses Ram Das's favorite merchant imagery: the Guru is the Divine Banker (saah), and the seeker comes asking for the wealth of the Lord to purchase the Name. The intensity is striking — renounced sleep and hunger — not as grim self-denial but as the natural forgetfulness of someone utterly absorbed in something they love, the way a child forgets dinner when lost in play. And the 'traders' who come take away the Name as their profit: the wealth is real, portable, and there for anyone who comes to trade. Longing that forgets to eat is just love paying full attention.

A Question to Sit With

What absorbs you so completely that you forget everything else?

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

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