Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Life comes into the world in every possible way and in every color and kind -- and all of it is made by the same One.
So whoever seeks this shelter is lifted up, no matter who their family is or where the world ranks them. High-born or low-born, the door is exactly the same width for everyone.
The door is the same width for everyone. Start with how life comes into the world. Andaj jayraj saytaj ut-bhuj — from eggs, from the womb, from sweat and from the earth. These were the four old ways of naming where life comes from. All of it, in every color and form, is made by one Maker.
Then the verse names every rung of the old caste ladder. Caste was a system that ranked people by the family they were born into. Khatree baraahman sood vais chandaal chand-ee-aa — the warrior, the priest, the worker, the trader, and the ones the world pushed furthest out. The verse names them all in order to flatten the ladder.
Saadhoo saran parai so ubrai — whoever seeks the shelter of the holy is lifted up. Think of a school gate that opens the same for every child, whoever their parents are. This verse sits at the root of the Sikh teaching that all people are equal.
Why do you think it matters so much that everyone is welcome, no exceptions?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI