Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You take care of the awakened ones, nurture them like your own. They play freely with you, the way a child plays with a loving parent. Your saints are so precious to you, so dear. And you — you are the very breath of life inside them; without you they could not live at all.
This pauri deepens the relationship into tenderness and play. Toon santan kee karahi pratipaalaa — "you pratipaal (cherish, nurture) the saints," the same parental care we have seen given to the helpless child (Shabad 13). But then a surprising, delightful image: sant kheleh tum sang gopaalaa — "the saints kheleh (play) with you, O sustainer." The relationship is not only reverent; it is playful. The saints play with the One the way a beloved child romps with a doting parent — no fear, no formality, just joyful intimacy. This is the khel (the divine play) of Shabad 7, but now it is shared — the saints are not just watching the play; they are playing with the player.
For two boys, this is a precious correction to any idea that closeness to the divine must be solemn or scary. The most intimate relationship with the One, this verse says, looks like play — the easy delight of those who feel completely safe and completely loved.
The verse rises to two intense statements of love. Apune sant tudh khare piaare — "your saints are khare piaare, intensely dear to you." The One loves the saints, deeply. And the climax: too santan ke praanaa — "you are the praana (the breath, the life-force) of the saints." This is the most intimate possible bond. The One is not merely important to the saints; the One is their breath, the very life moving in them. Remove the breath, and there is no life. As the fish cannot live without water (Shabad 2), the saint cannot live without the One — because the One is their living. The relationship the shabad paints is therefore complete: the One cherishes them as a parent, plays with them as a friend, loves them dearly as a beloved, and lives in them as their very breath. Every register of love at once.
The saints "play" with the One, like a child with a loving parent. Does it surprise you that closeness to the deepest thing in life could feel like play? What would that kind of safe, joyful closeness feel like?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI