Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The servants of the One, the celestial singers, the accomplished ones and the seekers,
the angels and divine beings, the great creators and all like them,
and the four ancient scriptures proclaim, day and night,
that the One is beyond approach, beyond reach, beyond fathoming.
Endless, endless are its glories, says Nanak; they cannot be described — they are beyond us.
This one says: even the greatest beings can't describe the One, so it's fine that you can't either.
This verse gathers everyone into one huge choir. There are the heavenly singers. There are the Siddhas, people said to have great spiritual powers, and the seekers. There are angels, gods, and Brahma, the Creator in the old stories. And there are the four Vedas, the oldest holy books of India. chatur bedh ucharat dhin raat — the four Vedas proclaim it day and night.
What does this whole choir say? Not "we have figured out the One." They say: agam agam Thaakur aagaadh — the Master is beyond reach, beyond reach, too deep to measure. The highest beings and the oldest books reach the same humble answer.
There is real comfort in this. Think of a whole class, teacher too, gazing at the night sky and saying, "We could never count them all." If the greatest beings stand amazed, then your own not-knowing is not a failure. It is the right way to stand before something endless. gun bea(n)t bea(n)t — endless, endless are its glories. The last word is wonder, shared by all of creation at once.
If even the wisest beings in existence stand amazed and can't fully describe the One, how does that make you feel about your own wonder?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI