Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
There is only One. Its Name is Truth. It is the Creator of all. It is fearless and full of love, beyond time, never born, shining on its own. And the One is found by the Guru's grace — a gift that is always here, waiting for an open heart.
Remember the One, remember the One. This alone is the work that will help you.
Let go of clinging to Maya, the world's glitter, and take shelter with the One.
Know that the pleasures of the world are false. This whole show is make-believe.
Remembering the One is the one work that helps you, and the world's shiny show does not last.
This is the rahaa-o, the "pause" line, the center of the shabad. Its heart is raam simar: keep the One in mind. Ihai tayrai kaaj hai: this alone will be of use to you. Prabh joo kee saran laag: take shelter with the One.
This is the opening of Raag Jaijaavantee, the smallest raag in the collection. It has just four short shabads, all by the Ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur. It begins with the Mool Mantar, the seed words that open the whole Guru Granth Sahib. There is one reality. Its Name is true. It is the Maker, present in all. It has no fear and no hatred. It is timeless, never born, and exists on its own. We come to know it through grace.
Maa-i-aa is the shiny, passing surface of things, sweet but not lasting. The verse calls the world's pleasures mithi-aa, false, like a dream. Think of a birthday party. It is wonderful, and then it ends. The heart is nudged gently toward what lasts.
What is something you were sure you couldn't live without, that later felt more like a passing dream?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI