ਸਰੀਰਿ ਸਰੋਵਰਿ ਗੁਣ ਪਰਗਟਿ ਕੀਏ ॥
sareer sarovar gun pargat kee-ay.
The ocean of the body yields pearls of virtue.
ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਮਥਿ ਤਤੁ ਕਢੀਏ ॥੪॥੫॥੫੭॥
naanak gurmukh math tat kadhee-ay. ||4||5||57||
O Nanak, the Gurmukh churns this ocean, and discovers this essence. ||4||5||57||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The ocean of the body holds pearls of virtue.
Says Nanak: the one turned to the Guru churns this ocean, and finds the treasure.
The pearls of virtue are already inside you — your work is to churn your own depths and draw them up.
The shabad's jewel-image: "the ocean of the body yields pearls of virtue," and "the Gurmukh churns this ocean." This internalizes the old myth of churning the ocean of milk (Shabad 32) — you do not churn an outer sea for treasure; you churn your own depths, and the pearls of virtue are already there to be drawn up. The treasure was within all along.
A Question to Sit With
What good things might already be inside you, waiting to be drawn out?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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