Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
My heart is full of joy — congratulations are ringing out everywhere! My Beloved has come home, and every thirst is satisfied.
I have met the sweet One, the heart of the whole universe, and my friends are singing songs of happiness.
All my dear ones are glad, and everything that troubled me has lost its place.
An unstruck music plays deep in my home now, and the space is made ready for the Beloved. The soul rests, completely at ease — I have met the One, the giver of peace, the closest of all.
The chhant lands in pure homecoming and celebration. Vajee vaadhaa-ee — "congratulations resound" — the imagery is a wedding-feast of the soul: bells, songs, gathered friends. The most beautiful phrase is anhat vaajay — the "unstruck melody," the inner music that plays without any instrument, an ancient image for the deep peace and harmony felt when the soul is united with its source. Doot thaa-o gavaa-i-aa — "the troubles have lost their place" — closes off the earlier ache without any frightening imagery: sorrow simply has nowhere left to stand. The final word is sahj — the natural, unforced ease — the settled peace that is the whole point of the journey from longing to reunion. This closes Guru Arjan's first Gauree chhant (||1||).
What does it feel like in your body when you finally get home after being away a long time?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI