Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
How fortunate they are, those who have truly come to know you. They live right in the middle of everything, and yet stay calm and untouched, like a lotus in muddy water. In the company of awakened hearts, they crossed the scary ocean of life. And they won out over all the inner enemies that used to pull them down.
This verse says the people who know the One live right in the middle of busy life, yet stay calm and clean inside.
It describes what these people are like. The big idea is very practical: you can be in the world without being owned by it. Say vadbhaagee jin tum jaanay means "very fortunate are those who know You." Vadbhaagee means very lucky, blessed.
And here is what is special about them. Sabh kai madhay alipat nirbaanay means "in the middle of everything, they stay untouched and free." Madhay means in the middle. Alipat means untouched, unstained. Nirbaan means calm, free, at rest.
This matters a lot. These people haven't run off to a cave or a mountaintop. They live in the middle of it all: work, family, busyness, temptations. And yet they stay untouched. The verse doesn't give a picture for this, but people often think of the lotus. It floats on muddy water, yet its petals stay clean and dry. That is the Sikh ideal of the householder who is also a saint. Spiritual freedom isn't escaping ordinary life. It is keeping your balance inside it, like a surfer riding the wave instead of running from the beach. That is sahj: calm, natural steadiness that holds firm through everything.
How did they get there? Saadh kai sang un bha-ojal tari-aa means "in the company of the holy, they crossed the scary world-ocean." Bha-ojal is the frightening ocean of life. Again, Sat Sangat, good company, is how. Not lonely heroics, but the right people around you.
Sagal doot un saadhay means "they tamed all the enemies." Doot are the inner enemies that pull us down: greedy wanting, anger, grabbing, clinging and pride. Now they are tamed. Notice the word play. The saadh, the good company, is how they saadhay, tamed, their inner enemies. Good company gives an ordinary person the strength to stay calm and clean in a messy world. These people are lucky not because life got easier, but because, with that company, they became steady inside it.
The devotees stay calm and "untouched" right in the middle of a messy world, like a lotus in muddy water. How do you stay yourself — calm, kind, clean — when everything around you is chaotic?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI