Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Name purifies the world, and yet you never remember it.
Nanak has come to the shelter of the One before whom the whole world bows; please protect me, as is your nature.
The gentle reproach — "the Name is purifying... and yet you never remember it" — is the ache of the whole Mehl 9 coda: the medicine is right here, free, and we keep forgetting to take it. And the shabad closes in sanctuary: "protect me, by Your innate nature." That last phrase is beautiful — the seeker asks the One to protect him not because he has earned it, but simply because protecting is what the One does, it is the One's nature (birad). You do not have to make yourself worthy of mercy; you appeal to the fact that mercy is simply what the One is. Guru Tegh Bahadur ends the Mehl 9 block, and closes off the raag's shabad section, by resting the whole weight of his hope on the character of the One rather than the merits of the self.
Is it a relief to know you can count on someone's kindness because kindness is just who they are — not because you earned it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI