Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Nanak says: through the teaching, a person becomes the teaching itself — look how wonderfully the One arranges it.
The Creator did this deed; one small light simply merges into the Light.
This line says something amazing, very calmly: a student can become the teacher.
Naanak gur tay gur ho-i-aa — Nanak says, through the Guru, one becomes the Guru. The student does not stay below the teaching forever. The teaching fills them up until they carry it too. Their small light merges into the great Light.
Then comes the important part: ih kaaran kartaa karay — the Creator did this. It is not a trophy you earned by yourself.
Think of a candle lit from another candle. The new flame is just as bright. But it did not light itself. Knowing that keeps a person humble instead of proud. The change is grace's own doing, and that is why it makes people gentle, not boastful.
Who has 'become the teaching' for you — someone so shaped by what's good that they now pass it on?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI