Sikhism·Raag Goojaree·Shabad 55
Verse 3 of 9

Every Spark of Joy Is on Loan From Its Source

ਸੁਖੀਅਨ ਮਹਿ ਸੁਖੀਆ ਤੂੰ ਕਹੀਅਹਿ ਦਾਤਨ ਸਿਰਿ ਦਾਤਾ ॥
sukhee-an meh sukhee-aa tooN kahee-ahi daatan sir daataa.
Among the peaceful, You are called the Peaceful One. Among givers, You are the Greatest Giver.
ਤੇਜਨ ਮਹਿ ਤੇਜਵੰਸੀ ਕਹੀਅਹਿ ਰਸੀਅਨ ਮਹਿ ਰਾਤਾ ॥੨॥
tayjan meh tayjvansee kahee-ahi rasee-an meh raataa. ||2||
Among the glorious, You are said to be the Most Glorious. Among revellers, You are the Reveller. ||2||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Among the peaceful, You are the Peaceful One. Among givers, You are the Greatest Giver.

Among the glorious, You are the Most Glorious. Among those who delight, You are the Delight itself.

Wherever you meet real peace, generosity, or joy in a person, you're meeting a spark on loan from its source.
The deeper layer

The litany rolls on, and its method rewards attention: it takes the best human qualities — peace, generosity, glory, joy — and locates their source and summit in the One. This is subtly different from mere ranking; it suggests that wherever you meet real peace, generosity, or joy in the world, you are meeting a spark of the One. Every good quality in any person is a loan from the source of that quality. To admire goodness anywhere is already to be pointed toward the One.

A Question to Sit With

Whose peace or generosity have you admired? What if that quality was a spark of something larger?

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

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