Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The One made millions and millions of living things — every kind of creature you can imagine, and more. The one He shines His kind glance on is led to meet the Guru. Their old mistakes are cut away, and these people stay pure forever. In the True Court they shine, lit up by the **Naam**, the living presence of the One.
This verse says that out of millions of living things, being led to the Guru is a gift to wonder at, not a prize we earned.
Lakh cha-oraaseeh jee-a upaa-ay means "He made the 8.4 million kinds of beings." That number is an old way of picturing how huge creation is, and the long journey of the soul through countless lives. Guru Amar Das uses it to show the size of things. Among all those beings, how precious it is to receive the nadar, the kind glance of grace. Jis no nadar karay tis guroo milaa-ay means "the one He looks on with grace, He leads to meet the Guru."
This is meant to fill you with wonder and thankfulness, not pride. You didn't push your way to the front of a line of 8.4 million. You were given a gift. It's like being handed a free ticket to the best seat in the house.
Next comes becoming clean. Kilbikh kaat means "cutting away the wrongs." Kilbikh means wrongs, stains. Notice the word "cut." The faults aren't slowly scrubbed off through years of punishing yourself. They are cut away, the way switching on a light clears the dark all at once. This is the shabad, the Guru's Word, and the Naam, the Name, at work, not gritted-teeth willpower.
Once they are cut away, the person is sadaa jan nirmal: "forever pure." That echoes the very first line of this Ashtapadee, this eight-verse song, where God was called nirmal, spotless. The soul takes on the quality of the One it melts into.
And the last beauty: dar sachai naam suhaavani-aa means "in the True Court, they are made beautiful by the Name." This recalls the jewels of truth in the verse before. Again and again, the picture is of a beauty that comes from inside, from being filled with the One, not from anything painted on the outside. In the True Court, what shines isn't what you wore. It is who you became.
What is something good in your life that you didn't earn — that simply came to you — and how often do you stop to feel amazed by it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI