Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Jewel of the One is deep within my heart, but I have no knowledge of it.
Servant Nanak: without holding the One in mind, a human life is wasted and lost.
The jewel-image — the keynote of the whole raag (Shabad 1) — returns in Guru Tegh Bahadur's honest voice: "the Jewel of the Lord is deep within my heart, but I do not have knowledge of Him." The treasure is there, unquestionably, in everyone's heart; the tragedy is simply not knowing it, walking past your own diamond in the dark. And the sober close: without remembering the One, "human life is uselessly wasted." This is not said to shame but to wake — the whole point of naming the waste is to prevent it. Guru Tegh Bahadur ends where he keeps ending: the jewel is within, the life is precious, and the one thing needed is to notice what is already here before the chance passes.
If the most precious thing were already inside you, unnoticed, what would help you finally see it while you have the chance?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI