Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
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.
Serve the King, the Lord of the World, who has no family line and is pure, without a stain.
Please give me the gift of devotion, the gift Your humble saints beg for.
The one gift worth asking for is a heart that loves the One.
This is the pause line, the rahaa-o, the center of the song. The whole hymn grows from it, like a tree from a seed. Sayveelay gopaal raa-ay — serve the King who cares for the whole world. Gopaal means the One who looks after everyone, like a shepherd with a flock. Akul niranjan — this One has no family line, and nothing can ever stain it.
Namdev does not say "give me riches." He asks for bhagat daan, the gift of devotion — of loving and remembering. It is the very thing the sant jan, the humble saints, ask for too.
Imagine being offered any wish, and choosing a heart that loves well. Everything that follows in this song shows how vast this One is — the One whose love Namdev is asking for.
If you could ask for one gift that no one could ever take away, what would it be?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI