Drinking Begins When the Word Moves In

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

This pauri describes two effects of drinking the har ras and then names the single condition for receiving it. The first effect: jo jo peevai so triptaavai — "whoever drinks [it], that one becomes tripat (satisfied, full)." The doubling jo jo — "whoever, whoever" — makes it universal: there are no exceptions, no special qualifications. Anyone who drinks is filled. This is the end of the hunger that drove the running in earlier shabads; the ras satisfies completely.

The second effect is stronger: amar hovai jo naam ras paavai — "whoever gains the ras of the Name becomes amar (immortal, deathless)." This connects to amrit (a-mrit, "non-death") from earlier shabads. To taste the Name is to taste what does not die — to touch the permanent, sach, and so to step beyond the reach of death. Not that the body lives forever, but that the soul, drinking the deathless, is no longer ruled by the fear of ending. What you are filled with becomes what you are; fill with the deathless, and death loses its grip.

But there is a condition: naam nidhaan tiseh paraapat jis sabad guroo man voothaa — "the nidhaan (treasure) of the Name is obtained by the one in whose mind the shabad guroo (the Guru's Word) has voothaa — come to dwell, taken up residence." This is the key. The ras is available to anyone who drinks (universal), but the drinking only happens for the one whose heart has become a home for the Guru's Word. Voothaa is the word for settling in, moving in to stay. You cannot taste the Name from a distance; the Guru's Word must first move into your heart and live there. So the verse holds two truths together: the gift is for everyone, and it requires the heart to first become a dwelling-place. The treasure is freely offered; you have only to let the Word move in.