Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
True One, no one has ever found where You end — because You don't end. Only a rare person, by the Guru's grace, truly turns their heart toward You. And here's the strange and beautiful thing: the more I praise You, the *less* full I feel — not in a sad way, but because praising You only makes me hungrier for more of Your **Naam**. It's a hunger I never want to lose.
This pauri turns to a wonderful paradox about spiritual hunger. First, the immensity: tera... kinai ant na paa-i-aa — no one has ever found Your ant (limit, end, edge). The One is apaar, boundless. You can't get to the bottom of the ocean of the One any more than you can drink the sea dry. This isn't frustrating; it's thrilling — it means there's always more, infinitely more, to discover.
And from that boundlessness flows the paradox of the last line: tudh saalaahi na rajaa kabahoo — "praising You, I am never satisfied." Now, normally we think of being "never satisfied" as a bad thing — that's the restless craving (trisna) of the manmukh, who chases worldly things and is never full because those things can't fill an infinite hunger. But here Guru Amar Das flips it: this is a holy dissatisfaction, a good hunger. Sachay naavai kee bhukh — a hunger for the True Name that he never wants to be cured of.
Why is this hunger good when worldly craving is bad? Because of what it's hungry for. Worldly craving is hungry for fading things, so it's always disappointed — you get the thing, the buzz fades, you need more, and the chase exhausts you (the khap khap of the previous shabad). But hunger for the infinite One is a hunger that grows sweeter the more it's fed, because there's always more of the boundless to receive, and every taste is genuinely nourishing rather than hollow. The lover of God is "never satisfied" the way you're never "done" loving someone you truly love — the love keeps deepening forever. So this pauri teaches a profound discernment: not all hunger is the same. Be done with the hunger that empties you, and treasure the hunger that fills you and keeps you reaching toward the Infinite.
What's the difference between wanting more of something that leaves you empty, and wanting more of something that makes you feel truly alive? Can you name one of each in your life?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI