The Teaching Only Turns On the Light

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

This is the Rahao — the pause, the refrain, the still center of the whole Ashtapadee. Whatever the eight stanzas explore, this is what they keep circling back to. And Guru Amar Das puts one image at the heart: "gurmati pargaas hoaa" — through the Guru's teaching, light dawned. Pargaas means an illumination, a switching-on, a dawn. This is his favorite way to describe awakening: not as gaining new possessions, but as light coming on in a dark room. Nothing in the room changed — it was all already there — but now you can see it. The teaching doesn't add anything to you; it illuminates what was always present.

"Hau vaaree jeeo vaaree" — I am a sacrifice, my soul a sacrifice. This is the language of total devotion, the same phrase that opened Guru Nanak's Ashtapadee (Shabad 49). Why such overwhelming gratitude to the Guru? Because the one who turned the light on for you, who let you finally see, is owed everything. Think of how you'd feel toward someone who pulled you out of confusion into clarity, who helped you understand something that changed your whole life. That flood of "I'd do anything for you" — that's this line.

And the natural overflow of the dawn is song: "andin har gun gaavania" — day and night, singing the One's qualities. Notice this isn't a command ("you must sing!"); it's a consequence. When the light comes on and you finally see how good, how vast, how generous reality is, praise just pours out — you can't help it, the way you can't help smiling at something beautiful. The whole Ashtapadee will keep returning here: the Guru lights the lamp, and a lit-up heart sings.