Sikhism·Raag Goojaree·Shabad 26
Verse 3 of 3

You Can't Comprehend the Ocean, but You Swim in It

ਆਪੇ ਭਗਤਾ ਆਪਿ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਆਪਨ ਸੰਗਿ ਰਤਾ ॥
aapay bhagtaa aap su-aamee aapan sang rataa.
He Himself is the devotee, and He Himself is the Lord and Master; He is imbued with Himself.
ਨਾਨਕ ਕੋ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਪੂਰਿ ਰਹਿਓ ਹੈ ਪੇਖਿਓ ਜਤ੍ਰ ਕਤਾ ॥੨॥੨॥੧੧॥
naanak ko parabh poor rahi-o hai paykhi-o jatar kataa. ||2||2||11||
Nanak's God is pervading and permeating everywhere; wherever he looks, He is there. ||2||2||11||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

The One is itself the devotee and itself the Master, soaked through with its own being.

Nanak's One runs through everything, everywhere; wherever he looks, there it is.

You can't comprehend the ocean, but you're swimming in it — the unknowable One is nearer than knowing.
The deeper layer

The close resolves the mystery into non-dual wonder. If the One is "Himself the devotee, and Himself the Lord," then the very distance between worshipper and worshipped is, at the deepest level, the One playing both parts — "imbued with Himself." And so the un-understandable One of P0 turns out to be the most present thing of all: "wherever he looks, He is there." You cannot comprehend the ocean, but you are swimming in it. The unknowable is not far and cold; it is nearer than knowing.

A Question to Sit With

What is something you can't fully understand but can clearly feel is all around you?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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