Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You are the wise Master who understands every situation, who knows all the ways things work. Those who serve you get to enjoy the warm delight of your love. And here is the amazing part: everything that is yours becomes the servant's too — and the servant shines, becomes known and honored, simply by being close to you.
This pauri describes the rewards of belonging to the One, and they are astonishing in their generosity. First the Master's wisdom: toon daanaa thaakur sabh bidh jaaneh — "you are the daanaa (wise, all-knowing) Master who knows sabh bidh (all ways, every method)." The One understands every situation perfectly — which means the servant can trust completely, never needing to figure everything out alone.
The servants har rang maaneh — "enjoy (maaneh) the rang (the delight, the colorful joy) of the One." Service to the One is not grim labor; it comes with rang, delight. The servant enjoys. This continues the section's insistence that the spiritual life is joyful, even playful (recall the saints playing with the One in Shabad 18, the Name as play in Shabad 15).
But the most stunning line is the inheritance: jo kichh thaakur kaa so sevak kaa — "whatever belongs to the Master belongs to the servant." Think about this. The servant does not receive wages; the servant receives everything the Master has. All the treasures, all the abundance, all the boundless wealth of the One (the akhut bhandaaraa of Shabad 7) — it all becomes the servant's own. This is not the relationship of an employee but of an heir, even a beloved child. To belong to the One is to inherit the One's all.
And finally: sevak thaakur hee sang jaahar — "the servant becomes jaahar (radiant, manifest, well-known, distinguished) in the company of the Master." The servant shines not by their own achievement but by association — by being near the One. A small thing near a great light is itself lit up. The servant who in the world's eyes is humble (carrying water, grinding grain) becomes jaahar, luminous, simply by their closeness to the Beloved. The world makes you shine by what you accomplish; the One makes you shine by who you are close to. The servant of the One, who owns nothing, inherits everything and shines with borrowed-yet-real light.
The verse says "whatever belongs to the Master belongs to the servant." What would change if you really believed that being close to the deepest thing in life made all its riches yours too?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI