Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
My One is all-powerful, unfathomable, utterly vast.
It is close at hand — it lives in every single heart.
Nanak seeks the shelter and support of the One, who has no end or limit.
The shabad ends by holding the raag's two great poles in a single breath, perfectly balanced: the One is "unfathomable, utterly vast" and "close at hand, dwelling in each and every heart." Neither cancels the other. It is boundless and it is in your heart; beyond all limit and nearer than near. This is the mature resolution the whole raag has been building toward: you do not have to choose between an awesome, infinite God and an intimate, present one. They are the same One. The vastness is not far because it is vast; the nearness is not small because it is near. And so the seeker's final move is simply to take shelter in this One who is at once immense and intimate — the safest possible place, because it is both bigger than every threat and closer than every fear.
Can the same One be bigger than the whole universe and also right inside your heart? Which of those do you find more comforting?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI