Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
I have been trying to free myself, running in every direction.
The pure One lives deep within my heart, but I don't grasp the secret of it.
This part says that what you run everywhere looking for is sitting quietly inside you.
Dah dis ka-o uth Dhaa-i-aa — I got up and ran in the ten directions. That means everywhere at once. He is trying to set himself free by effort, going everywhere and arriving nowhere. The shabad before this one said the same thing. The One isn't out in any of those directions.
Ghat hee bheetar basai niranjan — the pure One lives right inside the heart. Guru Tegh Bahadur names how tiring it is to try to run your way to freedom. Think of hunting all over the house for your glasses while they sit on your head.
Taa ko maram na paa-i-aa — I haven't grasped its secret. The secret is that the running isn't needed. What he races toward in ten directions sits still at his own center. The verse holds an honest tension. He knows the One is within, yet can't reach it just by knowing. Reaching was never the way in.
Why might running around frantically trying to fix everything actually keep you from the peace that's already inside you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI