Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Within the home of your own self is the whole earth, all that holds it up, and the depths below. And within that same home lives the Beloved — forever young, never aging. The Giver of peace dwells there in endless joy, and through the Guru's teaching, you melt into that effortless peace.
This verse says the whole world, and the Beloved too, can be found inside the home of the self.
It makes the inner home huge. Ghar meh Dhartee Dha-ul paataalaa — inside the home are the earth, its support, and the worlds below. In old stories, the earth was held up by a great bull, the Dha-ul, with paataal, lower worlds, beneath. So the line is saying: the whole universe is found inside you. You are not a tiny speck lost in a giant universe. In a way, the giant universe is inside you. Earlier shabads said everything is placed within the body. Here it goes further: all of creation lives in the inner home.
And living in that inner home: ghar hee meh pareetam sadaa hai baalaa — the pareetam, the Beloved, is sadaa baalaa, forever young. What a lovely phrase. Everything outside grows old and wears out. Phones slow down, sneakers wear through, flowers wilt. But the Beloved within is always fresh, never tired, never faded. The love we find inside never grows old. This is the voice of Raag Maajh, a soul longing for the Beloved. And the gift here is that the Beloved is not far away. The Beloved is at home, inside.
Sadaa anand rahai sukh-daata — the sukh-daata, Giver of peace, lives there in constant anand, joy. So the inner home is not empty or gloomy. It is where a forever-young, joyful, peace-giving Beloved lives. Under all the noise and worry, that Beloved is there. The whole life of the spirit is just coming home to that room. And the way home is the shabad's refrain: gurmat sahj samaavani-aa — through the Guru's teaching, we melt with ease into that peace. We do not have to build the joy. It is already home, waiting.
What would it feel like to believe there's an "ever-young, ever-joyful" Beloved already living inside you, beneath all the worry — just waiting to be visited?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI