Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
It is by kindness — not by winning — that the One comes to meet you.
Without that closeness, the heart droops, the way a flower droops when it has no water.
But the wise teaching within you can join you back to your truest friend, who was never really far.
And then you bloom — you open all the way, like a flower finally reaching the sun.
This one says that without the One the heart droops, and with the One it blooms.
Ji-o jal bin kamal udaasay — like a lotus without water, I am sad. The lotus is a much-loved picture in Sikh teaching. It grows in muddy water, yet rises clean and opens wide. It is like a person who lives a full family life in the world and still stays clean inside.
But even a lotus needs water. Cut off from its source, it wilts. Think of a flower in a vase that someone forgot to fill. By the afternoon it is drooping.
Kar kirpaa parabh aa-ay mil — by kindness, the One comes to meet us. It is a gift we receive, not a prize we grab.
Then jan naanak naam bigaasay — Nanak blossoms in the Name. Guru Ram Das signs with the name "Nanak," as every Guru does. Blossoming, not winning, is the picture of a soul close to its Source.
"Blessed, blessed is the Guru who showed me the One," the verse ends. The fruit is thankfulness, not pride.
What helps you feel most like a flower opening in the sun?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI