Sikhism·Raag Bilaaval·Shabad 1
Verse 3 of 5

Everything Flows From You

ਜੋ ਕਿਛੁ ਹੋਆ ਸਭੁ ਕਿਛੁ ਤੁਝ ਤੇ ਤੇਰੀ ਸਭ ਅਸਨਾਈ ॥
jo kichh ho-aa sabh kichh tujh tay tayree sabh asnaa-ee.
Whatever has happened, has all come from You. You are All-knowing.
ਤੇਰਾ ਅੰਤੁ ਨ ਜਾਣਾ ਮੇਰੇ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਮੈ ਅੰਧੁਲੇ ਕਿਆ ਚਤੁਰਾਈ ॥੨॥
tayraa ant na jaanaa mayray saahib mai anDhulay ki-aa chaturaa-ee. ||2||
Your limits cannot be known, O my Lord and Master; I am blind - what wisdom do I have? ||2||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Everything that has ever happened flows out of You. You know it all, from the inside.

I could never know where You end. Next to something so boundless, what cleverness do I have?

You do not have to understand something completely to be held by it.
The deeper layer

Everything comes from the One, and our cleverness is too small to measure the One.

Jo kichh ho-aa sabh kichh tujh tay means "whatever has happened, all of it came from You." Tayraa ant na jaanaa means "I cannot know where You end."

Mai anDhulay ki-aa chaturaa-ee means "I cannot see, so what cleverness do I have?" This is not putting yourself down. It is being honestly small in front of something with no edges.

Think of trying to measure the sky with a school ruler. The ruler is fine. It is just the wrong tool. Cleverness is the wrong tool for meeting the endless One. You do not have to understand the One fully to be held by the One.

A Question to Sit With

When has trying to be clever gotten in the way of simply trusting?

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

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