The One is beyond price, beyond bottom, beyond a second — nothing is done by ourselves alone, and the heart in tune finds the treasure of all good.
The Arc
A hymn of vastness and humility. It opens by declaring the worth of a God-turned life beyond measure, the One imperishable and unseeable. The Rahau heaps up wonder — endless, deep, high, without edges. Then the bedrock: there is no second, and even right worship rests with the One. From that immensity comes a humbling truth — nothing is accomplished by ourselves alone, and the Name is a gift given — and the shabad closes with the heart in tune finding the One, the treasure of every good thing.
Key Vocabulary
kavan jaanai: who can know — the worth beyond measure
avinaasee alakh abhayvaa: imperishable, unseeable, inscrutable — named by what no mind pins down
gahir gambheer: deep and unfathomable
aprampar: limitless, without edges
aykas bin naahee ko doojaa: apart from the One there is no second — the ground of Ik Onkar
aaphu kachhoo na hovat: nothing is done by oneself alone
gun nidhaan: the treasure-store of all virtue — the One itself
Themes and Cross-Connections
The apophatic triad — imperishable, unseeable, inscrutable — describes the One the way the Mool Mantar does, by what no thought can capture; the heaped superlatives are bismaad, wonder overflowing speech. "No second" is the plainest statement of Ik Onkar in the batch. And "nothing by ourselves alone" gently dissolves haumai's claim to self-sufficiency, landing on the Giver-theme: even the Name is received, not seized — the good you seek is gathered whole in the One.
For Raag Bilaaval
Bilaaval's brightness turns to spaciousness here — the clear, glad awe of standing before something too vast to measure, and finding that all the good you were looking for is gathered in it. The raag's daylight opens into sky.
Translation Notes
Jo jan prabh bhaa-i-aa ("the one who pleases God") is read as the heart aligned with the One's flow, not an arbitrary favorite — consistent with the project's reading of Hukam and bhaana as alignment rather than favoritism. "Siblings of Destiny" (bhaa-ee) is carried simply as "friends."
The One is beyond price, beyond bottom, beyond a second — nothing is done by ourselves alone, and the heart in tune finds the treasure of all good.
The Arc
A hymn of vastness and humility. It opens by declaring the worth of a God-turned life beyond measure, the One imperishable and unseeable. The Rahau heaps up wonder — endless, deep, high, without edges. Then the bedrock: there is no second, and even right worship rests with the One. From that immensity comes a humbling truth — nothing is accomplished by ourselves alone, and the Name is a gift given — and the shabad closes with the heart in tune finding the One, the treasure of every good thing.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The apophatic triad — imperishable, unseeable, inscrutable — describes the One the way the Mool Mantar does, by what no thought can capture; the heaped superlatives are bismaad, wonder overflowing speech. "No second" is the plainest statement of Ik Onkar in the batch. And "nothing by ourselves alone" gently dissolves haumai's claim to self-sufficiency, landing on the Giver-theme: even the Name is received, not seized — the good you seek is gathered whole in the One.
For Raag Bilaaval
Bilaaval's brightness turns to spaciousness here — the clear, glad awe of standing before something too vast to measure, and finding that all the good you were looking for is gathered in it. The raag's daylight opens into sky.
Translation Notes
Jo jan prabh bhaa-i-aa ("the one who pleases God") is read as the heart aligned with the One's flow, not an arbitrary favorite — consistent with the project's reading of Hukam and bhaana as alignment rather than favoritism. "Siblings of Destiny" (bhaa-ee) is carried simply as "friends."
Last updated: 2026-07-08