Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You're the One who gives peace, always, without ever stopping. So I bow down again and again, lowering myself at Your feet. Whatever good work I do, I can only do it if it fits Your way of things — and only when You give me the ability to do it, kind and gentle One.
Having handed everything back in the first verse, the soul now does the natural next thing: it bows. "Niv niv laagaa teree paa-ee" — bowing and bowing, again and again. The doubling is not just emphasis; it's a posture for life. Bowing is the body's way of saying "I am not the biggest thing here," and saying it on purpose, repeatedly, until the ego stops fighting it.
The second half holds a deep truth about how doing actually works: "kaar kamaavaa je tudh bhaavaa" — I can only do good work if it aligns with Your way, and "jaa toon deh" — only when You give me the capacity. This is hukam in action. We imagine we are the lone authors of our deeds. But every genuine good act requires a thousand things you didn't provide: the breath in your lungs, the strength in your arms, the very moment of opportunity. To align with hukam is not to become passive — it is to act, but to act in tune with reality rather than in defiance of it, like a sailor working with the wind instead of cursing it.
So this verse is not "do nothing." It's "do, but stop pretending you're the source." There is enormous relief in that. You still pour your effort in — but you're no longer crushed by the false belief that the outcome rests entirely on your shoulders.
Think of something good you accomplished. How many things outside your control had to line up for it to happen?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI