Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When you quiet the nine outer gates of the body and still the racing mind,
you come to dwell in the "tenth gate" — your own true inner home.
And there, an unstruck melody (**anhad shabad**) rings out day and night. It is a music with no instrument, heard within, through the Guru's teaching.
When we stop letting our attention rush out through our senses and come home inside, we hear a music that was always playing.
This verse uses an old map of the body. The na-o dar, the "nine gates," are the body's nine openings to the outside world. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and the rest. Through these gates our attention keeps rushing out. Out to what we see, hear, smell, and taste. The racing mind slips out through them to chase the world. Another shabad pictured this runaway mind too.
Na-o dar thaakay Dhaavat rahaa-ay — close the nine gates and hold back the racing mind. This does not mean blocking your senses or feeling nothing. It means gathering your attention back inside instead of letting it all leak out. It is the "coming home" of the last two verses.
Dasvai nij ghar vaasaa paa-ay — then you come to live in the tenth, your nij ghar (your own true home). The "tenth gate" is a famous idea in Sikh teaching. It is not a door in the body. It is a secret inner doorway, the entrance to the soul's true home. It opens only when the other nine are quiet.
What is behind that inner door? Othai anhad sabad vajeh din raatee — there the anhad sabad plays day and night. Anhad means "unstruck." Every sound we know needs something to hit something. A drum is struck. A guitar string is plucked. But this music plays with no instrument and nothing striking anything. It is the quiet music of the One, always sounding underneath everything.
Why don't we usually hear it? Because our busy, racing mind is too loud. Think of a room full of chatter and a TV blaring. Only when everything goes quiet do you notice the soft sound of rain on the roof. It was there all along.
Gurmatee sabad sunaavni-aa — through the Guru's teaching, this Word is heard. Other shabads in this raag speak of this inner music too. So this verse completes the song's journey inward. Stop letting your attention leak out. Come home to the inner door. And in the quiet, you will hear the endless music of the One.
What beautiful, subtle thing might you be able to hear or notice if you quieted all the noise rushing in through your senses?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI