Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
You are here, right now, with me. And You are there too, in whatever comes next. Every living thing was set up and shaped by You. There simply isn't anyone or anything else besides You, Maker — so You are the ground I stand on and the shelter I run to.
This opening line covers all of existence in one sweep: "aithai toonhai aagai aape" — You are here (this world, this moment) and You are there (whatever lies ahead, the hereafter). There is no border the One does not cross, no "before" or "after" where the One is absent. For a child, the scariest thought is often the unknown — what's coming, what happens next, the dark ahead. This verse answers it directly: whatever is "aagai," ahead, the same One who is with you now is already there too. You are never stepping into territory the One hasn't already filled.
"Jee-a jantr sabh tere thaape" — all beings were established by You. The word "thaape" means set up, founded, placed. Everything that exists was placed here on purpose by the One. Nothing is an accident or an orphan. You yourself were placed here, on purpose, by the same hand that placed the stars and the sparrows. That sense of being intentionally set down in the world, not randomly dropped, is the root of feeling at home in existence.
Then the foundation-claim: "tudh bin avar na ko-ee" — without You there is no other. This is Ik Onkar stated as the ground of safety. Because there is only the One — no rival power, no second force fighting it — the soul can rest its whole weight on it: "mai dhar ot tumaari," You are my support and my shelter. Dhar is the ground you stand on; ot is the wall you shelter behind. The Rahao-line establishes the trust the rest of the shabad will build on: here, hereafter, and everywhere, there is only the One — so lean fully.
What unknown "next thing" makes you nervous right now? How does it feel to imagine the One is already waiting there for you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI