chahu dis hukam vartai parabhtayraa chahu dis naam pataalaN.
Your Command, O God, rules in the four directions; Your Name pervades the four corners of the nether regions as well.
ਸਭ ਮਹਿ ਸਬਦੁ ਵਰਤੈ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਸਾਚਾ ਕਰਮਿ ਮਿਲੈ ਬੈਆਲੰ ॥
sabh meh sabad vartai parabh saachaa karam milai bay-aalaN.
The True Word of the Shabad is pervading amongst all. By His Grace, the Eternal One unites us with Himself.
ਜਾਂਮਣੁ ਮਰਣਾ ਦੀਸੈ ਸਿਰਿ ਊਭੌ ਖੁਧਿਆ ਨਿਦ੍ਰਾ ਕਾਲੰ ॥
jaaNman marnaa deesai sir oobhou khuDhi-aa nidraa kaalaN.
Birth and death hang over the heads of all beings, along with hunger, sleep and dying.
ਨਾਨਕ ਨਾਮੁ ਮਿਲੈ ਮਨਿ ਭਾਵੈ ਸਾਚੀ ਨਦਰਿ ਰਸਾਲੰ ॥੮॥੧॥੪॥
naanak naam milai man bhaavai saachee nadar rasaalaN. ||8||1||4||
The Naam is pleasing to Nanak's mind; O True Lord, Source of bliss, please bless me with Your Grace. ||8||1||4||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In plain words
O One, Your Hukam, the flow of existence, moves in all four directions. Your Naam fills the four directions and the worlds below.
The true Word is at work in everyone. By grace, the Eternal One brings us close.
Birth and death hang over every head, and so do hunger, sleep, and the end of life.
Nanak says: the Naam pleases my mind. O True One, Source of all sweetness, bless me with Your grace.
The same presence that fills every direction is the closeness the heart quietly asks to keep.
The deeper layer
The One's Hukam and Naam fill every direction, and grace brings you close.
Every being shares the same life: being born, getting hungry, sleeping, and one day dying. Those things hang over every head, like weather over the whole earth. Through it all, the Naam brings gladness. Nadar is the One's gracious glance. Rasaal means full of sweetness, the Source of joy. The shabad ends with a simple prayer for that glance.
A Question to Sit With
What small closeness would you most like to hold onto through everything?
