ਜਲ ਤੇ ਊਠਹਿ ਅਨਿਕ ਤਰੰਗਾ ॥
jal tay ootheh anik tarangaa.
Countless waves rise up from the water.
ਕਨਿਕ ਭੂਖਨ ਕੀਨੇ ਬਹੁ ਰੰਗਾ ॥
kanik bhookhan keenay baho rangaa.
Jewels and ornaments of many different forms are fashioned from gold.
ਬੀਜੁ ਬੀਜਿ ਦੇਖਿਓ ਬਹੁ ਪਰਕਾਰਾ ॥
beej beej daykhi-o baho parkaaraa.
I have seen seeds of all kinds being planted
ਫਲ ਪਾਕੇ ਤੇ ਏਕੰਕਾਰਾ ॥੨॥
fal paakay tay aykankaaraa. ||2||
- when the fruit ripens, the seeds appear in the same form as the original. ||2||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Countless waves rise from a single ocean, then sink back into it. Bracelets, rings, and ornaments are all shaped out of the same gold.
Plant a seed, and the ripe fruit carries that very same seed again. The many always come out of the one, and lead back to it.
Waves, ornaments, and fruit all point back to their one source.
Three images stacked together — waves and water, ornaments and gold, seed and fruit — each a way of saying the same thing: variety is genuine, but underneath it is one substance. This is Ik Onkar made visible in ordinary things.
A Question to Sit With
What is something made of one material but shaped into many things?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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