Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The One who fills the whole wide world lives right inside this body too — so at every moment, I bow within.
The Teacher's guidance became my true 'ear-rings,' and I fixed one thing firmly in my heart: the One Formless Oneness.
This one says the One is not far away on a mountain. The One fills this very body.
Here Guru Arjan starts turning the yogi's outer signs into inner ones.
Na-o khand parithmee is tan meh ravi-aa — "the One fills the nine regions of the earth, and this body too." The sacred is not hidden in some cave. It is within. So it is met with quiet respect all the time: nimakh nimakh namaskaaraa, "bowing every moment."
Then comes deekhi-aa gur kee mundraa kaanee — "the Guru's teaching is my ear-rings." Some yogis were known for large rings worn through a split in the ear. Here the Guru's guidance is the ear-ring instead.
Darirhi-o ayk nirankaaraa — "I held firm to the One Formless." Nirankar means the Formless One, the Oneness with no shape.
Think of a friendship bracelet. The string is real, but what counts is the friendship it stands for. The sign is real. Its meaning lives inside.
What's something you carry on the inside — a value or a promise — that matters more than anything you wear?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI