ਚਰਨ ਪਖਾਰਉ ਕਰਿ ਸੇਵਾ ਜੇ ਠਾਕੁਰ ਭਾਵੈ ॥
charan pakhaara-o kar sayvaa jay thaakur bhaavai.
I wash Your Feet and serve You, if it pleases You, O Lord and Master.
ਹੋਹੁ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾਲ ਦਇਆਲ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਗੁਣ ਗਾਵੈ ॥੪॥੫॥੩੫॥
hohu kirpaal da-i-aal parabh naanak gun gaavai. ||4||5||35||
Be Merciful, O God of Compassion, that Nanak may sing Your Glorious Praises. ||4||5||35||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
I would wash Your feet and serve You gladly, if that would please You — I just want to be useful to what is good.
Nanak says: be kind to me, gentle One, so that I can spend my days singing about how wonderful You are.
The best kind of service is the kind you would do just to be useful to something good.
Even the gift of praise comes as grace.
Charan pakhaara-o kar sayvaa — I would wash Your feet and serve You. Hohu kirpaal ... gun gaavai — be kind, so that Nanak may sing Your praise. The ability to praise is itself a gift, received with thanks.
A Question to Sit With
What is something kind you would happily do even if no one thanked you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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