Admit You Are a Sinking Stone

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

The shabad ends with folded hands and an honest picture: "I am a sinking stone. Please lift me."

Du-ay kar jorh ik bin-o kareejai — with both hands pressed together, I make one humble request. Folded hands are the sign of prayer all over the world. There is no demand in them. Just one quiet ask, made with empty hands.

Kar kirpaa dubdaa pathar leejai — by Your kirpaa (kindness, grace), pick up this dubdaa pathar (sinking stone). The one praying calls themself a sinking stone. A stone cannot float. Drop it in a pond, and it goes straight down. This is a picture of the heart weighed down by haumai (the "me, me, me" feeling) and by clinging. It cannot lift itself up by its own strength.

There is no bragging here. No "I worked hard, so I earned this." Just: "I can't float on my own. Please lift me."

This honesty is what opens the door. Earlier shabads said our hands must be empty before grace can fill them. Here even our picture of ourselves is emptied, all the way down to "stone." Think of a friend who can't swim, holding out a hand at the deep end. The lifeguard doesn't wait for them to learn to swim. The lifeguard simply lifts them out.

And the answer comes right away. Naanak ka-o parabh bha-ay kirpaalaa — God became kind to Nanak. The stone is picked up, not by learning to swim, but by being lifted.

The last line is about love going both ways. Parabh naanak man bhaanaa — God has become bhaanaa (dear, loved) to Nanak's mind. The lifted stone now loves the One who lifted it, more than anything.

Look back at the whole shabad. A good life is one given to the Name. Every part of the body is blessed by serving the One. Good company lifts you in a moment. And an honest heart, with folded hands, is lifted by grace and falls in love. Admit you cannot float on your own, and grace will carry you.