Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
We're a bit like a child who keeps asking and asking, not quite realizing how much is already being given — the wise Giver is giving all along.
What the Giver gives is given once and for all; there's no need to cry out as if you'd been forgotten. We usually ask for small, passing things — and none of those ever brought lasting happiness.
So, Nanak says, if you're going to ask for anything, ask for the One. That is the asking that carries you home.
If you ask for anything, ask for the One.
Mamma is the "ask for the One" Pauri, gentle and a little humorous. Maaganhaar i-aanaa — the asker is like an unknowing child — daynhaar day rahi-o sujaanaa, the wise Giver keeps giving. Man moorakh, "foolish mind" (why cry out?), is a warm self-address: a bit like a child. The heart of it: ja-o maageh ta-o maageh bee-aa — we keep asking for other (small, passing) things, jaa tay kusal na... thee-aa, from which no happiness came — so aykeh maag, ask for the One. The close, jaa tay pareh paraag — by that asking you cross over/are carried home. Keeps the whole thing in abundance: the Giver is already giving; only our asking is misaimed.
If you could ask for one thing that would still matter years from now, what would it be?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI