A Song Is Always Playing in the Depths

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

The shabad closes by turning from the One's presence in the outer world (waters, lands) to its presence in the soul's own depths — and there it finds music. The music of the praanic wind is deep within... as the Lord Himself plays this music, so does it vibrate and resound. This is the Anhad Shabad, the Unstruck Melody — the primordial sound the tradition says is always playing in the depths of existence, heard by the soul that has grown still enough. And note: the Lord Himself plays it. The inner music is not produced by us; it is the One making music in the depth of the self. Beneath all the noise of the mind, a song is being sung, and it is the One singing.

With the music is the treasure: the treasure of the Naam is deep within... through the Word of the Guru's Shabad, the Lord God is revealed. The music and the treasure are both already within; the Shabad is what reveals them, drawing back the veil so the soul can hear the song and find the gem it always carried. And the stanza ends in the gathered, practical fruits of devotion: the One leads us into His Sanctuary and preserves the honor of His devotees; by great good fortune one joins the Sangat; and through the Naam, one's affairs are resolved. From the cosmic music in the depths to the untangling of an ordinary life's knots — all of it flows from the One who plays the inner song, hides the inner treasure, and reveals both through the Word. The shabad that began with the playful One creating Krishna and the milkmaids ends with that same playful One making music in the cave of the human heart.