ਮੇਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਬਿਸਰੈ ਹਉ ਮਰਉ ਦੁਖਾਲੀ ॥
mayraa parabh bisrai ha-o mara-o dukhaalee.
Forgetting my God, I die in pain.
ਸਾਸਿ ਗਿਰਾਸਿ ਜਪਉ ਅਪੁਨੇ ਹਰਿ ਭਾਲੀ ॥
saas giraas japa-o apunay har bhaalee.
With each breath and morsel of food, I meditate on my Lord, and seek Him.
ਸਦ ਬੈਰਾਗਨਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਨਿਹਾਲੀ ॥
sad bairaagan har naam nihaalee.
I remain always detached, but I am enraptured with the Lord's Name.
ਅਬ ਜਾਨੇ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਲੀ ॥੨॥
ab jaanay gurmukh har naalee. ||2||
Now, as Gurmukh, I know that the Lord is always with me. ||2||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When I forget the One, I feel the ache of being far away. So with every breath I take and every bite I eat, I keep the One in mind and keep looking.
I hold everything else loosely, but the Name lights me up. And now I see what I could not see before — the One was walking beside me the whole time.
Remembrance is threaded through every breath and every bite.
Saas giraas — breath and morsel — is Gurbani's image for remembrance woven into the most ordinary acts of staying alive. Bairaagan (detached) here is not cold withdrawal; it is holding lesser things loosely so the heart is free for the One.
A Question to Sit With
What is a small daily thing you could turn into a moment of remembering?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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