Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Perfect Teacher lets the Word be heard, and as you take it in, the three swinging moods settle and your attention rests in a fourth, deeper place — awake, clear, at home. The "me-first" voice grows quiet, and you find you were never separate from the One at all.
This is the closing verse. It names the goal: a fourth, still place underneath the three moods.
Poorai satgur sabad sunaa-i-aa — the Perfect True Guru has let the Word be heard. Tarai gun maytay cha-uthai chit laa-i-aa — it wipes out the three qualities and fixes the mind on the fourth. The "fourth state" is sometimes called turiya. It is the awareness underneath the three swinging moods, the still center.
Think of the ocean. On top, the waves are wild, or calm, or gray and heavy. Deep down, the water is always still.
Naanak ha-umai maar barahm milaa-i-aa — Nanak says that when the ego is quieted, one merges into the One. Barahm here means the Oneness itself, not a separate god. This is where the whole shabad was climbing: past the three moods, home in the fourth.
Have you ever felt a calm underneath all your moods — a "you" that was there no matter what mood came and went?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI