Sikhism·Raag Malaar·Shabad 1
Verse 3 of 5

The Giver Inside Every Life

ਤੁਧਨੋ ਸੇਵਹਿ ਤੁਝੁ ਕਿਆ ਦੇਵਹਿ ਮਾਂਗਹਿ ਲੇਵਹਿ ਰਹਹਿ ਨਹੀ ॥
tuDhno sayveh tujh ki-aa dayveh maaNgeh layveh raheh nahee.
Those who serve You - what can they give You? They beg for and receive what cannot remain.
ਤੂ ਦਾਤਾ ਜੀਆ ਸਭਨਾ ਕਾ ਜੀਆ ਅੰਦਰਿ ਜੀਉ ਤੁਹੀ ॥੨॥
too daataa jee-aa sabhnaa kaa jee-aa andar jee-o tuhee. ||2||
You are the Great Giver of all souls; You are the Life within all living beings. ||2||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Those who serve You — what can they give You? They ask, and they receive, and what they receive does not last.

You are the Giver of every living being. You are the life inside every life.

The One you would give to is already the life inside you.
The deeper layer

Nothing you could give the Creator was yours to begin with. The Giver is the life inside you.

TuDhno sayveh tujh ki-aa dayveh means, "Those who serve You, what can they give You?" Everyone asks for things and receives things that cannot stay.

It is a bit like buying your mom a birthday present with money she gave you. Yet the One is daataa, the Giver of every soul. Jee-aa andar jee-o tuhee means, "You are the life inside every life."

The Giver is not far away. The Giver is the very aliveness inside us.

A Question to Sit With

If everything you have was first a gift, what would you most want to say thank you for?

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

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