Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Your living Name is deep and vast beyond measure, sweet like nectar. Whoever has it living inside their heart becomes truly free. The teacher cut away every single rope that was tying them down, and now, Nanak says, they melt gently into a deep, natural peace — like water settling into stillness.
The shabad resolves into freedom and sahaj. First the Name once more: gahir gambheer amrit naam teraa — "your amrit naam (nectar-Name) is gahir gambheer (deep and profound)." The same depth that described the unreachable thaan (palace) in the previous verse now describes the Name — because the Name is the way into that palace. The deep, vast dwelling and the deep, vast Name are one; to hold the Name is to enter the place all creation seeks.
The liberation is stated with a clear condition: mukat bhaiaa jis ridai vaseraa — "mukat (liberated, freed) becomes the one in whose ridai (heart) [the One] has vaseraa (taken up dwelling)." Recall voothaa from Shabad 20 — the Word moving in to stay. Freedom is not a far-off achievement; it is the simple consequence of the One coming to live in your heart. Where the One dwells, bondage cannot remain.
And so: gur bandhan tin ke sagle kaate — "the Guru cut sagle (all) their bandhan (bonds)." Recall Shabad 13, where the Guru cut the ropes the seeker could not untie herself. Liberation is, again, something done for the seeker by grace, not achieved by struggle. The final word is the section's beloved sahaj: Naanak sahj samaaee — "Nanak samaaee (merges, dissolves) into sahaj." Sahaj is the effortless equilibrium, the natural poise of a soul that has stopped fighting its nature. The seeker does not achieve peace; she merges into it, the way a river merges into the sea — effortlessly, naturally, because the bonds that held her separate have been cut. The arc completes: the One is the treasure of all treasures (Rahao), the meeting purifies all you love (P1), the Guru shows the palace all creation seeks (P2), and finally the Name dwells in the heart, the bonds fall away, and the soul dissolves into effortless peace (P3). Signed with the lineage's name, Nanak. Freedom is not seized; it is what remains when the ropes are cut.
The seeker doesn't "achieve" peace; she "merges into" it once her bonds are cut, like a river reaching the sea. What "ropes" do you think hold people back from that kind of natural peace?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI