You Cannot Think to the Infinite, but You Can Love

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

This verse says: keep the One in mind, because the One is the friend who stays with you to the very end.

It begins with a gentle piece of life advice. Har chaytahu ant ho-ay sakhaa-ee means "remember the One, who will be your helper at the end." Guru Amar Das is asking us to think about what really lasts. Friends, things we own, trophies we win: they are wonderful, but one day they fall away. The One is the sakhaa-ee, the friend who walks all the way to the end with you, and beyond. Putting your attention there isn't gloomy. It is just wise, like packing for the trip you are actually taking.

Then comes a string of words that describe the One. Agam means "beyond reach." Agochar means "beyond what the senses can take in." Anaath means "with no master above." Ajonee means "never born," and so never dying. Each of these says what the One is not. You can't reach the One by trying harder. You can't see or touch the One. You can't draw a picture of the One. That is simply honest. The One is bigger than every box the mind tries to use, like trying to pour the ocean into a lunchbox.

But the verse doesn't leave us standing at a locked door. The last words turn the key. Satgur kai bhaa-ay paavni-aa means "the One is found through love for the True Guru," the true Teacher. What the mind and senses can't reach, love can. You can't think your way to the Infinite, but you can love your way there. The Guru is the doorway, and loving devotion is how you walk through. The One who is out of reach comes near, not because we get smarter, but because we love more truly.