Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Who is truly asleep and who is truly awake? The one who lives by the teaching is the one who is welcomed.
Those who do not forget the One with each breath and each bite of food — they are the whole and honored ones.
Through grace they meet the teaching, and night and day their attention rests on the One.
Let me keep their company; in it, I find real honor.
Falling asleep they say "Wonderful!" and rising they say "Wonderful!" again.
Bright are the faces of those who rise each day and hold the One close.
A Shalok of the Fourth Mehl that redefines "awake." Being awake is not about eyes open — it is about the mind turned toward the One with "each breath and each bite" (saas giraas). The repeated vaahu vaahu — "Wonderful! Wonderful!" — is the sound of awe (echoing Wahe in Waheguru: the exclamation when something takes your breath away). Here it becomes the natural rhythm of a life lived in wonder, spoken falling asleep and waking. Note this is framed positively per the guidelines — vaahu vaahu is joyful remembrance, never mechanical repetition. The bright face (mukh ujlay) returns as the outward sign of an inward light.
What is the first thing your mind reaches for when you wake up? What would it feel like to wake into wonder instead of worry?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI