Sikhism·Raag Basant·Shabad 15
Verse 1 of 5

Fully Alive

ਬਸੰਤੁ ਮਹਲਾ ੩ ॥
basant mehlaa 3.
Basant, Third Mehl:
ਹਰਿ ਸੇਵੇ ਸੋ ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਲੋਗੁ ॥
har sayvay so har kaa log.
One who serves the Lord is the Lord's person.
ਸਾਚੁ ਸਹਜੁ ਕਦੇ ਨ ਹੋਵੈ ਸੋਗੁ ॥
saach sahj kaday na hovai sog.
He dwells in intuitive peace, and never suffers in sorrow.
ਮਨਮੁਖ ਮੁਏ ਨਾਹੀ ਹਰਿ ਮਨ ਮਾਹਿ ॥
manmukh mu-ay naahee har man maahi.
The self-willed manmukhs are dead; the Lord is not within their minds.
ਮਰਿ ਮਰਿ ਜੰਮਹਿ ਭੀ ਮਰਿ ਜਾਹਿ ॥੧॥
mar mar jameh bhee mar jaahi. ||1||
They die and die again and again, and are reincarnated, only to die once more. ||1||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

The one who serves the One belongs to the One.

They live in true, natural peace, and sorrow never comes to them.

Those who follow only their own mind are dead inside, because the One is not in their hearts.

They die and are born, again and again, only to die once more.

The one who loves the One belongs to the One and lives in a peace sorrow cannot settle on.
The deeper layer

Serving the One makes you the One's own, at peace, while a heart without the One goes round from death to birth to death again.

Har sayvay so har kaa log: whoever serves the One is the One's own person. Saach sahj is true, natural peace, and sog, sorrow, does not take hold. The manmukh is someone who follows only their own mind. With the One missing from the heart, life feels dead inside and keeps going round in circles: dying, being born, dying again.

A Question to Sit With

What is the difference between just getting through a day and feeling alive in it?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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