Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Without the One, my mind cannot survive.
If the teacher unites me with my Beloved — my very breath — I will not have to face the frightening circling again.
This part says: without the One, my mind can't live, so please bring me close.
This shabad sits at the end of Jaitsree, but it really begins the next raag, Raag Todee. It is like a bridge across the line between two rooms. The Guru Granth Sahib does this in other places too, like the shabad that opens Raag Goojaree at the end of Raag Aasaa. It carries its own Mool Mantar, the opening words about the One: ik-onkaar sat naam — One Creator, whose Name is Truth. That marks a fresh start.
Then it opens with pure viraha, the ache of being apart from someone you love. Har bin reh na sakai man mayraa — without the One, my mind cannot survive. It is the same fish-out-of-water feeling that Jaitsree sang all along. A fish can't live out of water. Think of a little kid on the first night away from home, missing their parent.
This is the "Pause" line (rahaa-o), the center of the shabad. Guru Ram Das's Todee begins where his Jaitsree lived. A soul that can't live apart from its Beloved asks the teacher to join them. Gur maylay bahur na bhavjal fayraa — once the Guru unites us, no more circling in the frightening ocean of the world.
What does it mean to feel you 'cannot survive' without something — that it's as necessary to you as water is to a fish?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI