Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Besides the True One, there really is no "other" at all — there's only the One, everywhere. But the world keeps clinging to the *feeling* of a second thing, and wears itself out, exhausting itself to death chasing it. The one who turns toward the light, the **gurmukh**, knows only the One — and by serving that One, they find real peace.
This verse says there is nothing apart from the True One, so the tiring chase after "something else" can finally stop.
It says the core truth of the song as plainly as it can. "Sachay baajhahu ko avar na doo-aa" — without the True One, there is no other at all. This is Ik Onkar, "there is One," in its simplest form. The "many things" we see are the One showing up in countless forms. Nothing is truly separate. This undoes step two from the four-step map, the feeling of "two." The two was never really two.
So what goes wrong? "Doojai laag jag khap khap moo-aa" — stuck on the "second thing," the world wears itself out to death. The doubled word khap khap sounds like it means: fretting and burning out, again and again. Picture someone racing after a hundred things, sure the next one will finally be enough. The newest phone, the next game, more likes. They never stop, and the chase itself wears them down. This is the robbed, blind manmukh from earlier, and the restless wanting that never quiets. The sad part is that all that running is after something that isn't truly separate from the One they already have.
The cure is simple. "Gurmukh hovai so ayko jaanai" — the one facing the Guru knows only the One. When you really see there's only One, the frantic chase just stops. There's nowhere else to run and nothing "other" to grab. It's like hunting all over the house for your glasses and finding them on your head. And "ayko sayv sukh paavni-aa" — serving the One, you find sukh, peace. Not the collapse of someone who chased everything. The settled rest of someone who sees they never needed to chase at all.
Have you ever exhausted yourself chasing something, only to find that what you really wanted was already right there? What might it mean that there's "no other" to chase?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI