Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Through the Guru's **shabad**, explore this cave within. The spotless Name — the One Himself — lives deep inside it. Sing the One's praises and let the **shabad** make you beautiful; and meeting your Beloved, you find true peace.
This verse tells how to find the beautiful inner room: carry the light of the Guru's Word inside, and you will meet your Beloved there.
Gur kai sabad ih gufaa veechaaray — through the Guru's sabad (Word), look carefully into this cave. Veechaaray means to think deeply about, to explore. Notice what you use to explore. Not a lamp or a map, but the Word. Think of walking into a dark basement with a flashlight. The Guru's Word is that flashlight. You do not stumble around your inner world guessing. The Word lights it up and shows you the way.
What does the light show? Naam niranjan antar vasai muraaray — the niranjan (spotless, without a speck of soot) Name lives deep inside. Muraaray is a name for the One. So the Beloved you thought you had to travel far to find is already at home in your own heart. An earlier shabad said, "I found Him in my own home." You are not searching for something that may or may not be there. You are looking for what is surely there, waiting. You just need the light to see.
How do you get ready to meet Him? Har gun gaavai sabad suhaa-ay — sing the One's praises and let the Word make you beautiful. Suhaa-ay means adorned, made lovely. In Raag Maajh, the soul is often pictured as a bride getting ready for her Beloved. She does not dress up in outer jewelry. She is made beautiful by praise and by the Word.
Mil pareetam sukh paavni-aa — meeting your pareetam (Beloved), you find sukh (deep peace). This is the heart of the whole raag. The soul aches for the Beloved, and here the ache is answered.
And where does the meeting happen? Not in some faraway heaven. It happens inside, in the beautiful inner room. The Beloved is within. The Word is your light to find Him. And the meeting brings the peace your longing was always for.
The song says the meeting with the Beloved happens *inside* you, not far away. What would it mean to look for what you most long for within, rather than out there?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI