You are all-powerful, at all times; You show me the Way; I am a sacrifice, a sacrifice to You.
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You are all-powerful, always; you show me the way; I would give anything for you.
Your good ones sing to you with love; I fall at their feet.
This one says: even a great teacher keeps learning, and keeps bowing.
Guru Arjan's shabads in this raag end the way they lived: in love and humility. "You show me the way," he says. He is still being guided. He does not claim to have arrived. hau bal bal jaau — I would give myself to you again and again.
Then comes his last posture. charan uvaa kai paau — I fall at the feet of those who sing of you with love. After thirty-eight shabads, the Guru himself takes the lowest place. He sits among the humble singers, not above them.
Think of a great coach who still asks the youngest player, "What did you notice?" That is the shape of this whole raag. Love keeps bowing. It finds its place among good company, never above it. The way is shown as a gift, never grabbed. And the seeker stays, to the very end, a thankful learner at the feet of love.
Why might the wisest people be the ones who never stop thinking of themselves as learners?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI