Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The One grants our hearts' desires and fulfills all our hopes.
It destroys pain and suffering; remember it, Nanak — it is not far away.
"It is not far away" (door na jaanaa) — the refrain of nearness that runs through all these raags. The One that grants desires and dissolves suffering is not off in some distant heaven to be reached; it is close, closer than close. This short Shalok is pure reassurance, and it opens the next movement (P6-P8): the One as the Giver of everything a life contains. Before listing all the gifts, Guru Arjan first establishes the Giver's nearness — you are not petitioning a faraway power but turning to one already at hand.
Does it change how you'd ask for help if the one you're asking is right beside you rather than far away?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI