Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
I would give myself away to anyone who has simply *heard* of you. I would give myself away to anyone whose tongue has *spoken* your name. Over and over, again and again, I would give myself to anyone who holds you in their mind and body, who remembers you with everything they are. That is how much I love the people who love you.
This verse is a love song, not straight to the One, but to the people who love the One.
The whole verse is a pouring out of love. Tis kurbaanee, tis balihaaree, vaar vaar jaa-ee: three different ways of saying "I give myself away for them." But notice who receives this love. Not the One directly. It goes to those jin toon suni-aa, "who have heard of You." To those jin rasnaa bhani-aa, "whose tongue has spoken of You." And to those jo man tan tudh aaraadhay, "who remember You with mind and body."
Why pour so much love on people instead of on the One? Because people who love the One carry the One inside them. Honoring a true lover of the One is honoring the One who lives in them. When you love someone, that love spills over onto everyone connected to them. Think of how you feel about your best friend's family, or your grandmother's old friends. It is the same here. The seeker's love for the Beloved spills over onto everyone linked to the Beloved, even those who have only heard of the One. That is Sat Sangat, the "true company," felt as love. You treasure the company of people who remember, because their remembering lights up your own.
There are gentle steps here, too. Some have only heard: the beginning. Some have spoken: further along. Some remember with their whole mind and body: fully given. The seeker gives herself to all of them, at every step. Even the beginner who has only heard gets her respect. That is generous and humble. She doesn't save her love for the most advanced. Anyone touched by the One, even a little, is precious to her. This opening sets the theme of the whole shabad: love for the Beloved shows itself as love and respect for the Beloved's people, wherever they are on the road.
The seeker reveres even someone who has merely "heard of" the One, not just the advanced. Why might it matter to honor people at every stage of a journey, not only those who are far along?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI