Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The person who serves the True Teacher becomes beautiful — there's a glow to them. The nectar-sweet **Naam** enchants their inner heart and wins it over completely. Their whole mind and body get dyed in the sweet **bani**, and then the nectar sounds within them naturally, like quiet music they can't help but hear.
This verse says people who serve the True Guru become beautiful, because the sweet Name wins their heart.
The first word is a lovely surprise: sohai, they become beautiful, they shine. The one who serves the Guru isn't just called good or dutiful. They glow. You may have noticed this in real life. Some people who are truly at peace and full of love seem to light up a room. It's not about looks. It's a beauty from inside. The sweetness that fills the heart shows on the face.
The second line tells how. "Amrit naam antar man mohai" — the sweet Name charms the inner mind. The word mohai is striking. Usually in Sikh teaching, moh means clinging attachment, one of five inner pulls that tie us down. Here Guru Amar Das flips it. The Name charms you with something real. It's as if the cure for being hooked on the wrong things is to love the right One even more. You don't stop loving by willpower. You fall for something better, and the smaller crushes lose their pull. Think of a kid who stops caring about a boring toy the moment a real puppy walks in.
Then the whole person is soaked. "Amrit man tan banee rataa" — mind and body dyed in the sweet bani, the Word. Not just the soul, but the whole body living an ordinary day. The verse ends, "amrit sahj sunaavni-aa" — the nectar is heard naturally, within. Teachers often link this to the anhad shabad, the "unstruck song," a quiet music heard when the heart is full and still. The verse doesn't use that word. See how easy the whole chain is: serve, be charmed, be dyed, and then the music simply sounds, heard by a heart quiet enough to listen.
What's something genuinely good that, once you loved it enough, made a lesser habit or craving just quietly fall away?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI