Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Come, friends — let's gather together and sing the Name. In good company, let's earn the one profit that truly lasts.
Let's serve the holy and drink the sweet nectar together. Such company comes to us through the good we have done, and the way our deepest story was always pointing.
This verse is a warm invitation: come, let's gather and sing the Name together.
Aavhu santahu mil naam japaahaa — come, friends of the One, let's meet and repeat the Name. Guru Ram Das does not picture the life of the spirit as a lonely climb. He pictures a gathering. Let us meet. Let us sing. Let us serve and drink together. The whole verse says "we," like someone calling friends over to join in.
What we gain there is described like a trade: vich sangat naam sadaa lai laahaa — in the sangat, the gathering of good company, we earn the lasting laahaa, profit, of the Name. The world's profits get spent and are gone. This one lasts. And there is sweetness too: kar sayvaa santaa amrit mukh paahaa — serve the holy, and drink the amrit, the sweet nectar of the Name. Think of friends sharing a meal around one table, passing the food from hand to hand.
The verse ends by saying that such company is a gift. Mil poorab likhi-arhay Dhur karmaa — we meet through what was written long ago, by our karam, our actions. The good we have done and the deep direction of our life bring us there. We don't just stumble into good company. And once we are there, the invitation stays open: come, let's sing, let's serve, let's share the nectar together.
Who are the people you could 'gather and sing' with — and are you accepting or avoiding that invitation?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI