Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
And here comes the answer to that despair. Even in the darkest age, a light has appeared in the world: the singing of the One's praises — **Kirtan**. It shines right there in the dark.
Only a few, turned toward the teaching, catch hold of it and swim across to the far shore — but the way is open. When the One's gracious glance falls, the heart turned toward the teaching receives the jewel it was searching for all along.
This short, luminous shalok — by Guru Amar Das, the Third Mehl — is placed here as the direct answer to Guru Nanak's anguished question in the verse before it. Guru Nanak had cried: in this dark night of falsehood, the moon of Truth is nowhere visible — how will they be saved? And Guru Amar Das replies: in this Dark Age of Kali Yuga, the Kirtan of the Lord's Praise has appeared as a Light in the world.
This is the answer, and it is beautiful in its simplicity. The light that the darkness hid is not a return to some lost golden age, not a new empire of justice, not a clever escape — it is Kirtan, the singing of the One's praises. Right in the middle of the dark night, a light has appeared, and it is available to anyone who will sing. Where Guru Nanak could not find the moon of Truth in the sky, Guru Amar Das points to a lamp that has been lit within the darkness itself. The age is still dark; but there is now a light to walk by.
The shalok is honest that not everyone takes hold of it: how rare are those few Gurmukhs who swim across to the other side! The light is there for all, but only some turn toward it and cross. And the crossing is, finally, grace: the Lord bestows His Glance of Grace; the Gurmukh receives the jewel. The jewel that the lost seeker of the previous verse searched for in vain is here received — not found by frantic searching in the dark, but given, when the One's glance falls, to the heart turned toward the light. The pairing of these two verses is one of the most moving moments in the Vaar: the founder's honest despair, and his successor's quiet, certain answer. The night is real. And so is the light. Sing.
When everything feels dark, could the way through be less about finding an escape and more about lighting one small lamp — like singing, gratitude, praise?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI