ਏਕੁ ਤੂ ਹੋਰਿ ਵੇਸ ਬਹੁਤੇਰੇ ॥
ayk too hor vays bahutayray.
You, O Lord, are the One, but You have so many Forms.
ਨਾਨਕੁ ਜਾਣੈ ਚੋਜ ਨ ਤੇਰੇ ॥੪॥੨੫॥
naanak jaanai choj na tayray. ||4||25||
Nanak does not know Your wondrous plays. ||4||25||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You are One, and yet You wear countless forms.
Nanak cannot fathom Your wondrous play.
The One wears endless forms — a play too deep for anyone to fully understand.
The shabad closes on the mystery that holds it together: "You are the One, but You have so many Forms." The One and the many are not a contradiction but a wondrous play (lila) too deep to fathom. After all the practical instruction, Nanak ends in honest wonder rather than mastery (cf. Shabad 30, "He Himself assumes all forms").
A Question to Sit With
Where do you see one thing showing up in many different forms?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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