He Merges You Into His Own Goodness

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

Guru Amar Das says the One does everything. He pulls us close, and then He folds us into His own goodness.

Har aapay maylay sayv karaa-ay — the One Himself brings us close and sets us to serving Him. Even our serving is His doing. We do not walk up from far away and hand Him our service like a present. He reaches out first, pulls us in, and then moves us to serve. The whole friendship starts from His side.

Gur kai sabad bhaa-o doojaa jaa-ay — through the Guru's sabad (Word), the love of "a second thing" goes away. That "second thing" is called doojaa bhaa-o. It is the feeling that there is "me" over here and the One far away over there. Guru Amar Das names this feeling as the main sickness again and again. Here is the cure, said plainly. The Guru's Word melts the gap. And once the sense of two is gone, what is left is coming together.

Har nirmal sadaa gundaataa — the One is nirmal (spotless) and always the gundaataa, the Giver of good qualities. But He does not just hand out good qualities like things from a shelf.

Har gun meh aap samaavani-aa — He Himself merges us into His goodness. Think of a drop of water falling into a lake. The drop does not get a little lake to carry around. It becomes part of the lake. In the same way, the One's patience, kindness, and truth become ours because we become one with them. We do not own goodness as a prize to show off. We melt into the Good One until His goodness is simply who we are.

An earlier shabad said that speaking good qualities helps you grow into them. This verse goes all the way. You do not just become like the good One. You are folded right into His goodness. The spotless One makes you spotless, not by polishing you from outside, but by taking you in.

The rest of the song, about the cave within, the Beloved, and the bride, grows from this promise. The One reaches for you, melts your sense of being apart, and folds you into His own goodness.