The One you seek does not live far away in a temple; it keeps a home in the highest room of your own body.
The Arc
Your body is like a city. It has walls, gates, busy markets and balconies. Deep inside, in the highest room, the True One lives. That home never cracks and never gets dirty. The door to it is heavy and shut. You cannot force it open. The Guru's word opens it. Inside, a light shines with no sun or moon. Music plays that no one is playing. When you hear it, fear and doubt pack up and leave. Outside, the trees, the wind, the sun and the moon are all honoring the One. And one glimpse of the One is enough to fill you with peace. At the centre, the opening line: the True One makes a home in the city of your body.
Key Vocabulary
Dakhanee: a southern dialect; noted here because it flavors the whole hymn.
Tenth Gate (dasvaa duaar): the inner doorway of awareness, beyond the nine bodily openings.
Anhad naad: the unstruck sound-current, the inner music that plays with no instrument.
Sahj: natural, effortless ease.
Hukam: the flow of existence, the natural order of life.
Themes and Cross-Connections
The body-as-fortress and the Tenth Gate return across this Solhe block (see Shabad 97). The picture of all nature offering worship, and of the inner light beyond sun and moon, connects to Aartee imagery elsewhere in Gurbani. The refrain of the One as maker, keeper, and gentle re-uniter runs through the whole hymn.
For Raag Maaroo
Maaroo is the raag of the battlefield and of facing death, and these Solhe carry that weight. Here Guru Nanak answers it by turning attention inward and upward, to the changeless home within, so that endings are met not with dread but as part of a rhythm of renewal.
Translation Notes
'Dakhanee' (southern dialect) comes from the hymn's own heading.
Pauri 14: 'maar jeevaaidaa' means the One ends life and gives life again; every ending and every new beginning comes from the same hands.
Hukam is the flow of existence; grace (karam) is a gift freely given.
Hukumnama
Subject: The True One makes a home inside you Preview: a fortress city, heavy doors, a quiet cave, trees and wind, sun and moon, and music no one plays.
Today: Your body is like a city. It has walls, gates, busy markets and balconies. Deep inside, in the highest room, the True One lives. That home never cracks and never gets dirty. The door to it is heavy and shut. You cannot force it open. The Guru's word opens it. Inside, a light shines with no sun or moon. Music plays that no one is playing. When you hear it, fear and doubt pack up and leave. Outside, the trees, the wind, the sun and the moon are all honoring the One. And one glimpse of the One is enough to fill you with peace.
The One you are looking for already lives inside you.
For today: Sit quietly for two minutes and listen for the still place inside you.
The One you seek does not live far away in a temple; it keeps a home in the highest room of your own body.
The Arc
Your body is like a city. It has walls, gates, busy markets and balconies. Deep inside, in the highest room, the True One lives. That home never cracks and never gets dirty. The door to it is heavy and shut. You cannot force it open. The Guru's word opens it. Inside, a light shines with no sun or moon. Music plays that no one is playing. When you hear it, fear and doubt pack up and leave. Outside, the trees, the wind, the sun and the moon are all honoring the One. And one glimpse of the One is enough to fill you with peace. At the centre, the opening line: the True One makes a home in the city of your body.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The body-as-fortress and the Tenth Gate return across this Solhe block (see Shabad 97). The picture of all nature offering worship, and of the inner light beyond sun and moon, connects to Aartee imagery elsewhere in Gurbani. The refrain of the One as maker, keeper, and gentle re-uniter runs through the whole hymn.
For Raag Maaroo
Maaroo is the raag of the battlefield and of facing death, and these Solhe carry that weight. Here Guru Nanak answers it by turning attention inward and upward, to the changeless home within, so that endings are met not with dread but as part of a rhythm of renewal.
Translation Notes
Hukumnama
Subject: The True One makes a home inside you Preview: a fortress city, heavy doors, a quiet cave, trees and wind, sun and moon, and music no one plays.
Today: Your body is like a city. It has walls, gates, busy markets and balconies. Deep inside, in the highest room, the True One lives. That home never cracks and never gets dirty. The door to it is heavy and shut. You cannot force it open. The Guru's word opens it. Inside, a light shines with no sun or moon. Music plays that no one is playing. When you hear it, fear and doubt pack up and leave. Outside, the trees, the wind, the sun and the moon are all honoring the One. And one glimpse of the One is enough to fill you with peace.
The One you are looking for already lives inside you.
For today: Sit quietly for two minutes and listen for the still place inside you.