ਹਰਿ ਕੇ ਨਾਮ ਵਿਟਹੁ ਬਲਿ ਜਾਉ ॥
har kay naam vitahu bal jaa-o.
I am a sacrifice to the Name of the Lord.
ਤੂੰ ਵਿਸਰਹਿ ਤਦਿ ਹੀ ਮਰਿ ਜਾਉ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
tooN visrahi tad hee mar jaa-o. ||1|| rahaa-o.
If I were to forget You, at that very instant, I would die. ||1||Pause||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
I would give myself for the Name. If I ever forgot you, in that very moment I would be as good as dead.
Forgetting the One would be a kind of death -- remembrance is the soul's very life.
The Rahao states the stakes in the language of love: the speaker's dependence on the One is so intimate that forgetting is figured as death at that very instant -- not punishment (cf. the fish out of water). In that language, remembrance is less a duty than life itself.
A Question to Sit With
What is something you never want to forget, because it is part of who you are?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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