Sikhism·Raag Gauree·Shabad 294
Verse 17 of 112

The Vast World Unfolds From the One

ਪਉੜੀ ॥
pa-orhee.
Pauree:
ਏਕਹਿ ਆਪਿ ਕਰਾਵਨਹਾਰਾ ॥
aykeh aap karaavanhaaraa.
The One Lord Himself is the Cause of all actions.
ਆਪਹਿ ਪਾਪ ਪੁੰਨ ਬਿਸਥਾਰਾ ॥
aapeh paap punn bisthaaraa.
He Himself distributes sins and noble acts.
ਇਆ ਜੁਗ ਜਿਤੁ ਜਿਤੁ ਆਪਹਿ ਲਾਇਓ ॥
i-aa jug jit jit aapeh laa-i-o.
In this age, people are attached as the Lord attaches them.
ਸੋ ਸੋ ਪਾਇਓ ਜੁ ਆਪਿ ਦਿਵਾਇਓ ॥
so so paa-i-o jo aap divaa-i-o.
They receive that which the Lord Himself gives.
ਉਆ ਕਾ ਅੰਤੁ ਨ ਜਾਨੈ ਕੋਊ ॥
u-aa kaa ant na jaanai ko-oo.
No one knows His limits.
ਜੋ ਜੋ ਕਰੈ ਸੋਊ ਫੁਨਿ ਹੋਊ ॥
jo jo karai so-oo fun ho-oo.
Whatever He does, comes to pass.
ਏਕਹਿ ਤੇ ਸਗਲਾ ਬਿਸਥਾਰਾ ॥
aykeh tay saglaa bisthaaraa.
From the One, the entire expanse of the Universe emanated.
ਨਾਨਕ ਆਪਿ ਸਵਾਰਨਹਾਰਾ ॥੮॥
naanak aap savaaranhaaraa. ||8||
O Nanak, He Himself is our Saving Grace. ||8||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

The One alone sets everything in motion. It spreads out the whole range of what happens.

In this life, wherever the One draws a person, that's where they find themselves — and whatever they receive, the One made room for it. No one can measure its full reach. Whatever it does, comes to be.

From the One, this entire vast world unfolded. And the One itself is the gentle hand that sets things right.

The whole vast world unfolds from the One — and the same One is the gentle hand that sets things right.
The deeper layer

The letter Aiaa (A) — an Aykeh ("the One alone") Pauri that returns again and again to the single source of all things. It presses the oneness teaching to its edge: even paap punn (wrong and right actions) unfold within the One's vast expanse. This can sound troubling — does it excuse harm? In this project's lens, the point is not to blur right and wrong but to dissolve the ego's fantasy of standing apart as an independent power: u-aa kaa ant na jaanai ko-oo — no one grasps the One's full reach. The comfort lands in the last line: aap savaaranhaaraa — the One is the saving grace, the hand that "sets things right." So the vastness is not cold; it is held by something that mends. You are inside a whole that is ultimately gentle, not indifferent.

A Question to Sit With

Does it feel bigger or smaller to know you're part of a whole you didn't set in motion — and that it tends toward mending?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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