Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
I looked through all the wise old books and all the holy writings. Underneath everything they say, there is really one message:
in the beginning, all through the ages, right now, and always, there is only the One. That is the single truth every path keeps circling back to.
Every wise book and every path keeps circling back to the same truth: there is only the One, always.
This Shalok is a quiet meeting of many traditions. Ghokhay saastar bayd sabh — Guru Arjan says he searched all the Shaastras and Vedas. These are the great holy books of the traditions around him, and he treats them with respect. Aan na khathata-o ko-ay — they say nothing else but this.
Aad jugaadee hun hovat naanak aikai so-ay — in the beginning, through all the ages, now and always, there is only the One. It is the truth of Ik Onkar, One behind everything, found inside other people's holy books. It is not "our book is right and yours is wrong." It is "all of them circle the same Oneness."
Think of friends climbing one mountain from different sides. They all end up at the same top. Every song people have sung about the Divine points to the same thing. The verse honors the many books while pointing past them to what they share.
If many different books and traditions all point toward the same One, what does that tell you about the people who wrote them?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI