Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The bride who has never known the joy of being with her Beloved weeps, and her face droops like a wilted flower.
She loses hope, caught in the knot of her own karma, the things she has done. Without the Guru, she wanders, lost in doubt.
A heart that has not yet felt the One close carries an ache, and tangled in its own doing, it wanders.
Guru Nanak often pictures the soul as a bride waiting for her beloved, the One. Jin Dhan pir kaa saad na jaani-aa — the bride who has not known the joy of her beloved's nearness. Her face shows it. The missing is written all over her.
Bha-ee niraasee karam kee faasee — she feels hopeless, caught in the noose of her own karma. Karma means our own actions and what comes back from them. Here it means being tangled in your own doing. Bin gur bharam bhulaanee — without the Guru, she wanders, lost in doubt.
But this ache is not the end of hope. It is the first stirring of longing. Think of missing a best friend who moved away. It hurts because they matter so much. And that longing is what points you home.
When you miss someone, how does that missing show what they mean to you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI