Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The teacher's spirit runs deep beyond reach, holding the One right in the heart.
No one can rival the teaching, for the Maker stands on its side.
Love for the One is the teacher's sword and shield — with it even the fear of death is disarmed.
The Maker is the teacher's own guardian, and everyone who follows the teaching is carried safely along.
Ill-will aimed at the teaching only comes undone on its own.
This will prove true in the court of the One; and Nanak marvels at so deep a mystery.
A Mehl 4 verse of quiet confidence: the teaching is invincible not because it fights, but because "the Maker stands on its side." The vivid image is kharhag sanjo-o — sword and armor — but the weapon is love (har bhagat), which "disarms even the fear of death." The literal names kaal (Death) as a "torturer" and says the Maker "destroys" whoever thinks evil of the teacher. Per the wellbeing rules, the Death-torturer terror is softened to "the fear of death is disarmed," and the destruction of the ill-willed is rendered as ill-will "coming undone on its own" — self-defeat, never staged cursing. The closing note is wonder (agam veechaariaa): the depth of it all is a mystery to marvel at.
What is something that feels unshakeable to you — steady no matter what happens around it? Where does that steadiness come from?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI