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Sikhism·Raag Soohee·Shabad 106
Verse 3 of 4

Free While Still Alive

ਸੰਤਸੰਗਤਿ ਸਿਉ ਮੇਲੁ ਭਇਆ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮਿ ਸਮਾਏ ਰਾਮ ॥
santsangat si-o mayl bha-i-aa har har naam samaa-ay raam.
Those who join the Society of the Saints are absorbed in the Name of the Lord, Har, Har.
ਗੁਰ ਕੈ ਸਬਦਿ ਸਦ ਜੀਵਨ ਮੁਕਤ ਭਏ ਹਰਿ ਕੈ ਨਾਮਿ ਲਿਵ ਲਾਏ ਰਾਮ ॥
gur kai sabad sad jeevan mukat bha-ay har kai naam liv laa-ay raam.
Through the Word of the Guru's Shabad, they are forever 'jivan mukta' - liberated while yet alive; they are lovingly absorbed in the Name of the Lord.
ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮਿ ਚਿਤੁ ਲਾਏ ਗੁਰਿ ਮੇਲਿ ਮਿਲਾਏ ਮਨੂਆ ਰਤਾ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਲੇ ॥
har naam chit laa-ay gur mayl milaa-ay manoo-aa rataa har naalay.
They center their consciousness on the Lord's Name; through the Guru, they are united in His Union. Their minds are imbued with the Lord's Love.
ਸੁਖਦਾਤਾ ਪਾਇਆ ਮੋਹੁ ਚੁਕਾਇਆ ਅਨਦਿਨੁ ਨਾਮੁ ਸਮ੍ਹ੍ਹਾਲੇ ॥
sukh-daata paa-i-aa moh chukaa-i-aa an-din naam samHaalay.
They find the Lord, the Giver of peace, and they eradicate attachments; night and day, they contemplate the Naam.
ਗੁਰ ਸਬਦੇ ਰਾਤਾ ਸਹਜੇ ਮਾਤਾ ਨਾਮੁ ਮਨਿ ਵਸਾਏ ॥
gur sabday raataa sehjay maataa naam man vasaa-ay.
They are imbued with the Word of the Guru's Shabad, and intoxicated with celestial peace; the Naam abides in their minds.
ਨਾਨਕ ਤਿਨ ਘਰਿ ਸਦ ਹੀ ਸੋਹਿਲਾ ਜਿ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਸੇਵਿ ਸਮਾਏ ॥੩॥
naanak tin ghar sad hee sohilaa je satgur sayv samaa-ay. ||3||
O Nanak, the homes of their hearts are filled with happiness, forever and always; they are absorbed in serving the True Guru. ||3||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

Joining the company of good-hearted seekers, a person melts into the Name of the One. Through the Teacher's Word they become free while still fully alive, lovingly tuned to the Name.

Fixing the heart on the Name, joined by the Teacher, the mind is colored through with the One.

Finding the Giver of peace, they let go of clinging and hold the Name close day and night. Steeped in the Word and gently glad, they settle the Name inside. In their homes there is always a song of joy — the ones absorbed in serving the Teacher.

Freedom is a way of living now — light-hearted, unclutched, right in the middle of an ordinary life.
The deeper layer

jeevan mukat — liberated while still alive: freedom is not something waited for after death but a way of living now, moh chukaa-i-aa, once clinging is set down. santsangat, the company of the good-hearted, is the setting where this happens; who we sit with shapes us. sehjay maataa — gently intoxicated, glad in sahaj rather than in anything grasped. The whole pauri says the free life is available in the middle of an ordinary one.

A Question to Sit With

What is something you could let go of that would make you feel lighter and freer today?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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