Sikhism·Raag Bhairao·Shabad 1
Verse 1 of 5

Nothing Happens Outside of You

ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ ਮਹਲਾ ੧ ਘਰੁ ੧ ਚਉਪਦੇ
raag bhairo mehlaa 1 ghar 1 cha-upday
Raag Bhairao, First Mehl, First House, Chau-Padas:
ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ik-oNkaar sat naam kartaa purakh nirbha-o nirvair akaal moorat ajoonee saibhaN gur parsaad.
One Universal Creator God. Truth Is The Name. Creative Being Personified. No Fear. No Hatred. Image Of The Undying. Beyond Birth. Self-Existent. By Guru's Grace:
ਤੁਝ ਤੇ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਕਿਛੂ ਨ ਹੋਇ ॥
tujh tay baahar kichhoo na ho-ay.
Without You, nothing happens.
ਤੂ ਕਰਿ ਕਰਿ ਦੇਖਹਿ ਜਾਣਹਿ ਸੋਇ ॥੧॥
too kar kar daykheh jaaneh so-ay. ||1||
You create the creatures, and gazing on them, you know them. ||1||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

There is only One. Its Name is Truth. It is the Creator of all. It is fearless and full of love, beyond time, never born, shining on its own. And the One is found by the Guru's grace — a gift that is always here, waiting for an open heart.

Without You, nothing at all happens.

You make every living thing, and as You watch over it, You know it.

Nothing happens outside the One who made you and knows you completely.
The deeper layer

Nothing exists or moves outside the One, who makes you and knows you.

Raag Bhairao opens with the full Mool Mantar and then Guru Nanak's first line: tujh tay baahar kichhoo na ho-ay, without You, nothing happens. The One is the ground of everything, close and near. The Creator makes each being and knows it from within, the way a potter knows every curve of a pot their own hands have shaped. That brings relief: you are held.

A Question to Sit With

When has it felt good to realize something was bigger than you and was holding you?

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

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