ik-oNkaar sat naam kartaa purakh nirbha-o nirvair akaal moorat ajoonee saibhaN gur parsaad.
One Universal Creator God. Truth Is The Name. Creative Being Personified. No Fear. No Hatred. Image Of The Undying. Beyond Birth. Self-Existent. By Guru's Grace:
ਰਾਗੁ ਆਸਾ ਮਹਲਾ ੧ ਘਰੁ ੧ ਸੋ ਦਰੁ ॥
raag aasaa mehlaa 1 ghar 1 so dar.
Raag Aasaa, First Mehl, First House, So Dar ~ That Gate:
Chitar and Gupat, the recording angels of the conscious and the subconscious, sing to You; they know, and they write, and on the basis of what they write, the Lord of Dharma passes judgement.
That Lord and Master - He is True, forever True; He is True, and True is His Name.
ਹੈ ਭੀ ਹੋਸੀ ਜਾਇ ਨ ਜਾਸੀ ਰਚਨਾ ਜਿਨਿ ਰਚਾਈ ॥
hai bhee hosee jaa-ay na jaasee rachnaa jin rachaa-ee.
He who created the creation is True, and He shall always be True; He shall not depart, even when the creation departs.
ਰੰਗੀ ਰੰਗੀ ਭਾਤੀ ਜਿਨਸੀ ਮਾਇਆ ਜਿਨਿ ਉਪਾਈ ॥
rangee rangee bhaatee jinsee maa-i-aa jin upaa-ee.
He created the world of Maya with its various colors and species.
ਕਰਿ ਕਰਿ ਦੇਖੈ ਕੀਤਾ ਅਪਣਾ ਜਿਉ ਤਿਸ ਦੀ ਵਡਿਆਈ ॥
kar kar daykhai keetaa apnaa ji-o tis dee vadi-aa-ee.
Having created the creation, He Himself watches over it, as it pleases His Greatness.
ਜੋ ਤਿਸੁ ਭਾਵੈ ਸੋਈ ਕਰਸੀ ਫਿਰਿ ਹੁਕਮੁ ਨ ਕਰਣਾ ਜਾਈ ॥
jo tis bhaavai so-ee karsee fir hukam na karnaa jaa-ee.
Whatever pleases Him, that is what He does. No one can issue any commands to Him.
ਸੋ ਪਾਤਿਸਾਹੁ ਸਾਹਾ ਪਤਿ ਸਾਹਿਬੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਰਹਣੁ ਰਜਾਈ ॥੧॥੧॥
so paatisaahu saahaa pat saahib naanak rahan rajaa-ee. ||1||1||
He is the King, the King of Kings, the Emperor of Kings! Nanak lives in surrender to His Will. ||1||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In plain words
There is one reality, one Oneness, and it is everything. Its Name is true and real. It is the Maker of all, woven through everything it makes. It knows no fear. It holds no hatred. It is beyond time, never born, never dying, and comes into being all on its own. You come to know it not by force, but by grace — as it reveals itself.
What is that gate, what is that home, where You sit and lovingly care for all of creation at once?
Countless instruments of every kind are playing there for You; countless musicians are singing.
So many melodies, so many harmonies, so many voices — all singing to You.
The wind sings to You. Water sings. Fire sings. Everything that keeps the world fair and balanced sings at Your door. The keepers who quietly know every heart sing to You.
Shiva, Brahma, and the goddess sing to You, forever radiant in Your light. Indra sings from his throne, and the shining ones sing beside him at Your gate.
The perfected ones sing in their deep stillness; the holy ones sing in their contemplation. The gentle, the truthful, the content sing; the brave-hearted sing. The scholars and the sages sing, age after age, alongside the sacred books.
The enchanting beauties sing — from the heavens, from this earth, from the depths below. The priceless jewels of creation and all the sacred places sing to You. Mighty heroes sing, and the four springs of life sing. The continents, the worlds, the whole vast universe — made and held in Your hand — sing to You.
But only those truly sing to You who please You — the ones soaked in Your love, savoring Your presence.
So many others sing that I cannot even bring them all to mind. How could Nanak ever count them?
That One is true, forever true — true, and its Name is true. It is here now, and always will be; it will never depart, even when all this creation departs. The One who made this world of endless colors and kinds watches lovingly over what it made. It does whatever pleases it, and no one can give it orders. It is the King over all kings — and Nanak simply rests, happy, within its flow.
The whole universe is one endless song to the One — and your life, simply being itself, is part of that song.
The deeper layer
This single, sweeping shabad — the famous So Dar, "That Gate" — is by Guru Nanak, and it opens Raag Aasaa while gently closing the Gauree section. It begins with the full Mool Mantar, the seed-statement of the whole tradition: Oneness that is everything, fearless, hateless, timeless, unborn, self-existing, known by grace. Then Guru Nanak asks his great question — where is the home from which the One cares for all creation? — and answers it with a breathtaking image: the entire universe is a single, endless concert, everything singing to the One just by being what it is. Winds, waters, fire, gods, sages, jewels, worlds — all singing. But the deepest line comes near the end: those who truly sing are the ones soaked in love. And Guru Nanak closes not by commanding or claiming, but by resting, content, within the flow of existence.
A Question to Sit With
If everything that exists is singing just by being what it is, what would your own "song" sound like?
