Raag Soohee, Shabad 71 - Even the Great Ones Kept Searching
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Someone could read every holy book, over and over, until they were worn out. Still they would not measure how vast the One is - not even a speck of it.
Even people with great powers keep wandering and searching. They too are caught by the pull of things that do not last.
Guru Arjan is saying: even the greatest searchers of old could not measure how great the One is.
Bayd parhay parh barahmay haaray means Brahma read the Vedas again and again, and grew tired. In the old stories, Brahma is the creator god, and the Vedas are ancient holy books. Ik til nahee keemat paa-ee means he did not find even a sesame seed's worth of the One's value.
SaaDhik siDh means seekers and people with great powers. Maya is the shimmer of the passing world that pulls our attention away. Even they got caught by it. Reading and trying are good things. But no amount of reading, or power, can hold the One. Think of trying to scoop up the ocean with a teacup.
When has trying harder not been the thing that finally helped?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI