Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Those who carry an ache inside — they alone know how much it stings.
Those who feel a longing to know the One — I am amazed by them, again and again.
Lead me, please, to the Guru, my true Friend; let me set aside my pride and sit low, ready to learn.
The Guru's Sikhs who serve with love — I would gladly serve alongside them, the lowest helper in the room.
Those who are dyed in the deep color of the One's love wear that love like a soaked crimson robe.
With grace, lead Nanak to the Guru; his whole self, he offers.
This Shalok of the Fourth Mehl (Guru Ram Das) opens with a striking image: jinaa andar umarthal — a hidden ache, like a boil, that only the sufferer can feel. Guru Ram Das turns this toward longing: the person who aches to know the One carries something precious, not something wrong. The crimson-robe image (rang chaloolai) recurs across this Vaar — love as a fast dye that soaks the whole cloth of a life, impossible to hide. The closing sir vaychiaa literally means "I have sold my head" — a total handing-over. "My whole self, I offer" keeps that completeness: an open, empty hand held out to grace.
Have you ever wanted something so deeply that the wanting itself changed you? What did that longing teach you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI