Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
With their tongues they sing the One's praises and savor them; they place the deep essence of the One on their tongues and taste it.
Nanak asks for nothing but the One; I am in love with the love of the One's sublime essence.
Once you taste the One, you want nothing else.
This long song is an ashtapadee, a song of eight verses. It ends with taste. Rasan rasan ras gaavahi har gun — with their tongues they sing the One's praises and savor them. Ras means the sweet juice, the flavor. Devotion here is something you taste, like the first bite of a ripe mango.
After the huge picture of the one thread, the shabad ends up close and sweet. Naanak har bin avar na maaga-o — Nanak asks for nothing but the One. Once you have seen that the One is the thread holding everything, you want only the thread. And you find it sweet.
Having seen what holds your life together, what would it mean to simply savor that, wanting nothing else?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI