Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Without the Naam, a life may as well go up in smoke.
Turning toward the Guru, I chant the One's Name, counting it on my prayer beads, and its sweet flavor comes into my mind.
Without the Naam, life goes up in smoke; with it, a sweet flavor fills the mind.
This is the Rahao, the "pause" line at the center of the shabad. Jal jaa-o jeevan naam binaa is a strong line. It uses a fire picture to say that a life without the Naam is empty, like a lamp with no flame.
Har jap jaap japa-o japmaalee: I repeat the Name on the mala, a string of prayer beads. Gurmukh aavai saad manaa: for the one who turns toward the Guru, a saad, a flavor, comes into the mind. Think of food when you have a cold. It tastes like nothing. Then you get well, and every bite is full of flavor again. Saying the Name, naam simran, is what brings that taste back.
What brings the flavor back when your days feel dull?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI