Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Its true state cannot be known.
This one says: the One is too big to ever fully figure out.
jaanee na jaiee taa kee gaat — its true state cannot be known. This short line is the rahaau, the "pause" line, the center of the shabad. After so many shabads describing the One, Guru Arjan stops to admit that words finally fall short.
This is not giving up. It is honesty, and it is deep respect. The deepest reality is not a fact you can pin down and put away in a folder. There is always more than the mind can hold. Think of trying to scoop the ocean into a bucket. You get real seawater, but never the whole sea.
Being humble about this is part of wisdom. The person who thinks they have the endless One all figured out has only shrunk it to fit inside their head. Not fully knowing, and being at peace with that, is closer to the truth than any neat answer.
Is it okay not to fully understand something huge and deep? Could admitting that actually be wiser than pretending you know it all?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI