ਹਰਿ ਜਪਿ ਮਾਇਆ ਬੰਧਨ ਤੂਟੇ ॥
har jap maa-i-aa banDhan tootay.
Meditating on the Lord, the bonds of Maya are cut away.
ਭਏ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾਲ ਦਇਆਲ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਮੇਰੇ ਸਾਧਸੰਗਤਿ ਮਿਲਿ ਛੂਟੇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
bha-ay kirpaal da-i-aal parabh mayray saaDhsangat mil chhootay. ||1|| rahaa-o.
When my God becomes kind and compassionate, one joins the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, and is emancipated. ||1||Pause||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Holding the One in mind, the ropes of glitter are cut.
When the One turns kind, a person finds good company and is set free.
Freedom is less something you seize than something you're led into — grace, then good company, then release.
The Pause line compresses the whole path: remembrance cuts the "bonds of Maya," and the sequence behind it is grace, then company, then freedom. Note the order — it begins with the One "becoming kind," not with our striving; the good company we find is itself a gift; and liberation follows from being placed among the good. Freedom is less something seized than something we are led into, one gracious step at a time.
A Question to Sit With
Looking back, what good company were you led into that you didn't arrange for yourself?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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