ਆਸਾ ਮਹਲਾ ੧ ॥
aasaa mehlaa 1.
Aasaa, First Mehl:
ਦੀਵਾ ਮੇਰਾ ਏਕੁ ਨਾਮੁ ਦੁਖੁ ਵਿਚਿ ਪਾਇਆ ਤੇਲੁ ॥
deevaa mayraa ayk naam dukh vich paa-i-aa tayl.
The One Name is my lamp; I have put the oil of suffering into it.
ਉਨਿ ਚਾਨਣਿ ਓਹੁ ਸੋਖਿਆ ਚੂਕਾ ਜਮ ਸਿਉ ਮੇਲੁ ॥੧॥
un chaanan oh sokhi-aa chookaa jam si-o mayl. ||1||
Its flame has dried up this oil, and I have escaped my meeting with the Messenger of Death. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The one Name is my lamp, and into it I have poured the oil of my own suffering.
The flame has burned that oil dry — and so I have slipped past my appointment with death.
Offered to the Name, even your suffering becomes fuel for a light that frees you.
A breathtaking image: the Name is a lamp, and the soul's suffering is the oil that feeds its flame. As the flame burns, the oil of pain is consumed — and in that burning the soul "escapes its meeting with the Messenger of Death." Suffering is not wasted; offered to the Name, it becomes the very fuel of liberation (cf. Shabad 27, the hunger that consumes pains).
A Question to Sit With
Can you think of a hard time that, looking back, became fuel for something good in you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
Use ← → to navigate