Even Your Thirst for the Nectar Is His Gift

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

This verse says only the one the One helps to drink will drink the nectar, and the One fills everything.

It answers the question from the start of the song. If the nectar rains on everyone, why do only some drink? The answer is pure grace. "Amrit peevai jis no aap pee-aa-ay" — they drink whom the One Himself helps to drink. Even the drinking isn't our own doing. That can sound puzzling. But it frees us from two traps. You don't have to worry, "Am I trying hard enough to deserve it?" And if you do drink, you can't brag, because even your thirst was a gift. It's grace giving grace from start to finish.

This doesn't make effort pointless. Right beside it is "gur parsaadee sahj liv laa-ay" — by the Guru's grace, they calmly fix their love on the One. Grace and turning toward the One aren't opposites. The turning is grace at work. Your part is to be willing, to turn your cup up. And even that willingness is the nadar, the loving glance from earlier verses, already touching you. Think of a child learning to ride a bike with a parent's hand on the seat. The child pedals. The parent steadies. Later the child realizes the hand was there all along.

The last line is the song's big picture. "Pooran poor rahi-aa sabh aapay" — the Perfect One Himself fills everything, completely. No empty corner anywhere. This is Ik Onkar, "there is One," at full stretch. Not a God far off who made a world over here, but a fullness soaking all of it. Then "gurmat nadree aavani-aa" — through the Guru's teaching, He is seen. Gurmat means the Guru's teaching. The fullness was always there. The Guru gives you the eyes. The whole journey is learning to see what was always present.