ਖੇਲਿ ਖਿਲਾਇ ਲਾਡ ਲਾਡਾਵੈ ਸਦਾ ਸਦਾ ਅਨਦਾਈ ॥
khayl khilaa-ay laad laadaavai sadaa sadaa andaa-ee.
He plays with me, He fondles and caresses me. Forever and ever, He blesses me with bliss.
ਪ੍ਰਤਿਪਾਲੈ ਬਾਰਿਕ ਕੀ ਨਿਆਈ ਜੈਸੇ ਮਾਤ ਪਿਤਾਈ ॥੧॥
paratipaalai baarik kee ni-aa-ee jaisay maat pitaa-ee. ||1||
He cherishes me, like the father and the mother love their child. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The One plays with me and delights in me, filling me again and again with a deep, steady joy.
I am cared for the way a mother and a father love their own child — completely, tenderly, without conditions.
You are cared for the way a loving parent cares for their child — not because you earned it, but simply because you are loved.
One of Gurbani's warmest images: the divine as maat pitaa, mother and father, cherishing the soul as their own child (baarik). The relationship is playful — khayl khilaa-ay, laad laadaavai, playing and fondling — not solemn or fearful. To be loved like a small child is to be safe without having earned it.
A Question to Sit With
What does it feel like to be loved just for being you, without having to earn it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
Use ← → to navigate