Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
So dance, my mind, in front of your teacher.
Dance to the teaching's tune and you'll find peace, and in the end the fear of death will leave.
The one the One moves to dance is called a devotee; the One links them to its love, sings and listens through them, and sets the blind mind straight.
When you truly love the One, it is the One who dances through you.
This is the Rahao, the "pause" line, the center of the shabad. Naach ray man gur kai aagai — dance, O mind, in front of your Guru. But notice the key words. Gur kai bhaanai — dance to the Guru's will. This is not a dance you make up to show off. It is movement led by the teaching. Dancing that way brings peace, and in the end the fear of death runs away.
Then comes a lovely turn. Aap nachaa-ay so bhagat kahee-ai — the one whom the One makes dance is called a devotee. Even the dancing is the One's doing. Aapay gaavai aap sunaavai — the One sings, and the One listens. Think of a kite dancing in the sky. It moves beautifully, but the wind is doing the dancing. The devotee does not own their devotion. It is the One dancing through them. The dancer, the music and the audience turn out to be one.
What if the good you do isn't purely 'yours' but something larger moving through you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI