Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Maker lifts up and crowns those whose deepest story was always, quietly, turning them homeward.
They receive the **Name** — the one thing that melts fear away — and through the **Word**, they finally come to rest.
This last verse says the Name takes fear away, and it is a gift from the Maker.
Aapay kartaa day vadi-aa-ee — the Creator Himself gives honor. Jin ka-o aap likhat Dhur paa-ee — to those for whom He wrote it from the start. The honor is given, not grabbed. Talk of things "written from the start" can sound cold, like fate with no say. But in Guru Ram Das's warm devotion it means something gentler. Coming home was always part of your story. The longing you feel for the One is that story making itself felt.
The gift itself has a comforting name: naam milai bha-o bhanjan — they receive the Naam, the Name, the breaker of fear. That is what the Name does. Deep down, fear is the worry of feeling separate and alone: afraid of losing things, of endings, of not being enough. The Name melts fear by melting that feeling of being apart. When a drop knows it is part of the ocean, what's left to fear? The waves go up and down, but the water stays.
Nanak's closing line ends where the whole song has been pointing: gur sabdee sukh paavani-aa — through the Guru's shabad, the Word, they find peace. The Word that bridged us to the out-of-reach One, the Word we were told to serve and sing, gives its last fruit here: rest. The gambler's restless circling in the last verse, and this deep peace, are the two endings the song has held up all along. The only difference is which way the heart turns, and the grace that meets it when it does.
What fear might quietly loosen its grip if you truly felt you were not separate from everything else?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI