Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
No clever scheme, no bossy command, can find the One.
So how, O my mother, will I ever meet the True One?
Clever tricks and bossy orders can never reach the One.
This is the Rahao, the "pause" line at the center of the shabad. Hikmat hukam na paa-i-aa jaa-ay — the One is not found by cleverness or by giving orders. There is a small play on words here. Hukam usually means the flow of existence, the way the One moves all things. Here it means a person trying to boss their way to the One. You cannot order the sun to rise early.
Then comes a tender question: ki-o kar saach mila-o mayree maa-ay — how will I meet the True One, O my mother? It sounds like a child turning to a parent for help.
Is there something you can only reach by being sincere, not by being clever?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI