ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਸਾਕਤੁ ਕਹਹੁ ਕੋ ਤਰਿਆ ॥
bin gur saakat kahhu ko tari-aa.
Tell me: without the Guru, what faithless cynic has been saved?
ਹਉਮੈ ਕਰਤਾ ਭਵਜਲਿ ਪਰਿਆ ॥
ha-umai kartaa bhavjal pari-aa.
Acting egotistically, he falls into the terrifying world-ocean.
ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਪਾਰੁ ਨ ਪਾਵੈ ਕੋਈ ਹਰਿ ਜਪੀਐ ਪਾਰਿ ਉਤਾਰਾ ਹੇ ॥੧੧॥
bin gur paar na paavai ko-ee har japee-ai paar utaaraa hay. ||11||
Without the Guru, no one is saved; meditating on the Lord, they are carried across to the other side. ||11||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Think it over: who ever finds their way across without the Guru?
Living only for the small self, a person can feel tossed about on a stormy sea.
But no one has to cross alone. Rest your heart on the One, and you are carried safely to the far shore.
No one has to cross the hard water alone.
Who crosses without the Guru? The bhavjal, the fearsome world-ocean, tosses the self-facing mind, and remembering the One (har japee-ai) carries a person across. No one is meant to make the crossing alone.
A Question to Sit With
When did having a guide make a hard crossing possible for you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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