Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Without the love I long for, I feel small and unsettled — how do I even go on, dear mother? Sleep won't come, and nothing I put on feels right. But everything looks beautiful the moment I please the One I love; following the teaching, my heart settles onto it. I feel glad and blessed for good whenever I serve the true teaching and rest in its care, safe as a child in a lap. Through the Word, the meeting comes, and the soul delights in its Beloved — the Name is the one profit worth having in this whole world.
Stanza ||1|| of a Guru Amar Das Chhant. Pir bin kharee nimaanee — "utterly humble/small without the Beloved." The literal "how can I live" is kept as a tender "how do I go on," a real ache voiced to a mother. Gur kai ank samaaee-ai — "merged in the lap of the Guru," an image of intimate belonging and reassurance within the Guru-centered devotional relationship. Laahaa naam sansaaray — the Name is the one true profit in the world.
When your heart is settled on something you love, how does the rest of the world look?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI