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Sikhism·Raag Kaanraa·Shabad 70
Verse 23 of 45

Countless Names, One Reaching Hand

ਮਃ ੪ ॥
mehlaa 4.
Fourth Mehl:
ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮ ਅਸੰਖ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਕੇ ਗੁਨ ਕਥਨੁ ਨ ਜਾਹਿ ॥
har har naam asaNkh har har kay gun kathan na jaahi.
The Names of the Lord, Har, Har, are countless. The Glorious Virtues of the Lord, Har, Har, cannot be described.
ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਅਗਮੁ ਅਗਾਧਿ ਹਰਿ ਜਨ ਕਿਤੁ ਬਿਧਿ ਮਿਲਹਿ ਮਿਲਾਹਿ ॥
har har agam agaaDh har jan kit biDh mileh milaahi.
The Lord, Har, Har, is Inaccessible and Unfathomable; how can the humble servants of the Lord be united in His Union?
ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਜਸੁ ਜਪਤ ਜਪੰਤ ਜਨ ਇਕੁ ਤਿਲੁ ਨਹੀ ਕੀਮਤਿ ਪਾਇ ॥
har har jas japat japant jan ik til nahee keemat paa-ay.
Those humble beings meditate and chant the Praises of the Lord, Har, Har, but they do not attain even a tiny bit of His Worth.
ਜਨ ਨਾਨਕ ਹਰਿ ਅਗਮ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਹਰਿ ਮੇਲਿ ਲੈਹੁ ਲੜਿ ਲਾਇ ॥੨॥
jan naanak har agam parabh har mayl laihu larh laa-ay. ||2||
O servant Nanak, the Lord God is Inaccessible; the Lord has attached me to His Robe, and united me in His Union. ||2||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

The names of the One, Har, Har, are countless. The goodness of the One cannot be put into words.

The One, Har, Har, is out of reach and deeper than any sea. How can the people of the One ever come to meet the One?

They sing and sing the praise of the One, Har, Har, and still cannot find even a tiny bit of the One's worth.

Nanak says: the One is out of reach, and yet the One has tied me to the hem of Its robe and drawn me close.

We cannot measure the One — but the One reaches out and gathers us in.
The deeper layer

The One is too vast to measure, and still the One reaches out and draws us close.

Asankh means countless, and agaadh means deeper than any sea. No amount of singing can measure even a speck of the One's worth.

Larh laa-ay: tied to the hem of the robe. Picture a small child holding tight to a parent's coat in a crowd. Here the One is the one who does the tying.

A Question to Sit With

When has help arrived not because you reached it, but because it reached you?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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