Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In the old story, treasures were drawn up by churning a great ocean, and the gods all cried, "We did this! It was us!"
But how could anyone hide the One, or take the credit from the One?
Quietly, the One hands every being its share, one by one — even the gods who thought they did it themselves.
Behind every "I did it!" is the quiet Giver who really did it.
The last story is the churning of the ocean of milk. In it, the gods stir a great sea, and treasures come up out of it. Then the gods cry, je asee kee-aa — we are the ones who did this!
Guru Nanak answers simply. Chhapai ki-o chhapi-aa — how can the One be hidden, even by hiding? The One cannot be left out of the story, because the One is aykee aykee vand dee-aa, the One who gives each their share. That includes the gods who were boasting. Think of a group project where one kid takes all the credit. The teacher knows who really did the work. Grabbing credit is just another kind of blindness. Another shabad in Raag Aasaa talks about that same blindness.
When have you been tempted to claim credit for something that was really a gift?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI