Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Story after story tells of people who had gone far astray — and even a trapped animal crying out — who turned toward the One and found their way to freedom.
So Ravidas gently reminds himself, and all of us: if love could carry them home, then surely it can carry you too. No one is left out.
If grace reached people like these, it can reach anyone.
Ravidas names old stories of unlikely people who were set free. Ajaamal was a priest who went badly astray. Pingulaa was a woman whose way of life her town looked down on. There was a hunter too. Kunchar is the elephant Gajendra, trapped in a lake and crying out. Each turned toward the One with one sincere call, and each was saved.
Aisay durmat nistaray: even minds that had gone so wrong were carried across. Then Ravidas speaks to himself by name: too ki-o na tareh ravidaas, why would you not be carried across too, Ravidas? It is humble self-encouragement.
Think of a coach saying, "If they could learn to swim, so can you." Ravidas closes the shabad's message about birth and ranking with a promise for all: grace leaves no one out.
What would it mean to truly believe that no one is beyond kindness and hope?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI