Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Countless are the One's virtues; they cannot be numbered. Its Name is lofty and exalted.
This is Nanak's humble prayer: bless the homeless with a home.
A Shalok of beautiful contrast. The previous verse counted the seeker's countless faults; this one counts the One's countless virtues — and the two immensities meet. Against an infinity of human failing stands an infinity of divine goodness, and the goodness is larger. And then the tenderest prayer in the whole Chhant: "bless the homeless with a home." The soul is nirdhan, anaath — homeless, without a place to belong. And all it asks is a home. This is the deep human longing beneath everything — not for possessions or achievements but simply for a place to belong, a home in the One. Guru Arjan makes it the whole of the prayer.
What does it mean to feel truly 'at home' somewhere? Why might that be one of the deepest things a heart can long for?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI