Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
My eyes fill with love for the One, the way a little rain-bird waits with open beak for a single drop.
Being apart keeps me up at night — but through love, I found my truest Friend.
The verse uses the raag's beloved chatrik (rain-bird) image: the songbird said to drink only falling raindrops, waiting open-beaked for the sky — a picture of pure, single-hearted longing for one specific thing. The heart cooled by the raindrops of the One's love; then the ache: separation keeps my body awake, I cannot sleep. Longing this focused doesn't rest until it's met. But the verse ends found, not lost: Nanak has found the True Friend by loving the Guru. The waiting, open-beaked, is rewarded — the rain does come.
What is something you wait and hope for with your whole heart?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI