Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Imagine the rivers turned to milk, and the springs poured cream and butter.
Imagine the whole earth became sugar, sweet beyond anything.
Imagine every mountain turned to gold and silver, studded with gems.
Even then, with all of that to enjoy, I would still want only You. My longing to sing Your praises would not shrink by even the smallest amount.
This verse says: even if the whole world turned into treats and treasure, I would still love You more.
It begins a set of four shaloks, short verses, that belong together. They ask one question: what could ever make the soul love the One less? Four times the answer is: nothing. This first one pictures the world turned into a feast. "Nadee-aa hoveh Dhaynvaa" — the rivers become cows giving milk. The springs flow with milk and ghee, clarified butter. "Saglee Dhartee sakar hovai" — the whole earth becomes sugar. The mountains turn to gold and silver, set with gems. Every treat and every treasure, piled up beyond imagining.
Then comes the line that ends all four verses. "Bhee tooNhai salaahnaa aakhan lahai na chaa-o" — even then I would praise You, and my longing to speak of You would not drop. That's the heart of it. A soul that truly loves the One doesn't love the One to get rivers of milk and mountains of gold. It loves the One for the One. Hand it all the riches in the world, and its longing wouldn't drop by a hair.
This quietly shows what real love is. It's easy to treat faith like a deal: pray to get something, be good to win a prize. Guru Nanak imagines the prize already maxed out and handed over. Real love wouldn't change at all. Think of a child at a birthday party with a table full of gifts. Their eyes still go looking for their mom or dad in the crowd. The gifts are nice. The person is the point. The longing is for the Beloved, not the Beloved's gifts.
Do you love the things you love for themselves, or for what you can get from them — and how would you know the difference?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI