Sikhism·Raag Maaroo·Shabad 13
Verse 1 of 6

One King in Every Village, Every Place Holy

ਮਾਰੂ ਮਹਲਾ ੩ ਘਰੁ ੧
maaroo mehlaa 3 ghar 1
Maaroo, Third Mehl, First House:
ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ik-oNkaar satgur parsaad.
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:
ਜਹ ਬੈਸਾਲਹਿ ਤਹ ਬੈਸਾ ਸੁਆਮੀ ਜਹ ਭੇਜਹਿ ਤਹ ਜਾਵਾ ॥
jah baisaaleh tah baisaa su-aamee jah bhayjeh tah jaavaa.
Wherever You seat me, there I sit, O my Lord and Master; wherever You send me, there I go.
ਸਭ ਨਗਰੀ ਮਹਿ ਏਕੋ ਰਾਜਾ ਸਭੇ ਪਵਿਤੁ ਹਹਿ ਥਾਵਾ ॥੧॥
sabh nagree meh ayko raajaa sabhay pavit heh thaavaa. ||1||
In the entire village, there is only One King; all places are sacred. ||1||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

There is only One. And the One is found by the True Guru's grace — a gift that is always here, waiting for an open heart.

Wherever life places me, there I will sit; wherever it sends me, there I will gladly go.

For in this whole wide village of the world there is only One King at the center of it all.

And because of that, every single place is holy ground.

If the One is everywhere, then every place you stand is holy ground.
The deeper layer

Trust in Hukam comes first: I rest wherever I am placed. The stunning line is sabhay pavit heh thaavaa, all places are sacred. If there is one King in the whole village, then no spot is unholy and no ground is off-limits. This dissolves every notion of pure versus impure places.

A Question to Sit With

What ordinary place could you look at as holy, just as it is?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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