ਇਹੁ ਜਗੁ ਵਰਨੁ ਰੂਪੁ ਸਭੁ ਤੇਰਾ ਜਿਤੁ ਲਾਵਹਿ ਸੇ ਕਰਮ ਕਮਈਆ ॥
ih jag varan roop sabh tayraa jit laaveh say karam kama-ee-aa.
This world, with its colors and forms, is all Yours, O Lord; as You attach us, so do we do our deeds.
ਨਾਨਕ ਜੰਤ ਵਜਾਏ ਵਾਜਹਿ ਜਿਤੁ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਿਤੁ ਰਾਹਿ ਚਲਈਆ ॥੮॥੨॥੫॥
naanak jant vajaa-ay vaajeh jit bhaavai tit raahi chala-ee-aa. ||8||2||5||
O Nanak, we are the instruments upon which He plays; as He wills, so is the path we take. ||8||2||5||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
This whole world, with all its colors and shapes, belongs to the One, and we act the way we are moved to act.
Nanak says: we are like instruments, and the One plays us. Whatever path pleases the One, that is the path we walk.
*We are instruments, and the music is being played through us.*
The closing verse. jit laaveh say karam -- we do as we are set to do. jant vajaa-ay vaajeh -- Nanak's image of the human being as an instrument played by the One. It lands the hymn in surrender-as-belonging: we are part of the music, not apart from it.
A Question to Sit With
What is something you do that feels less like effort and more like being played through?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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