Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
My Friend is so full of joy that being near him colors my whole mind with love.
It is like cloth dyed deep with the richest color, then set so the color holds fast.
Once your heart takes that color, it never washes out — and no other shade can take its place.
A tender shalok of Guru Amar Das built on the dyer's craft. maajeeth is madder-root, which gives one of the most permanent natural reds; paahayhi is the mordant that fixes the dye so it cannot bleed. The point: love that has truly soaked in and been set does not fade (rang na utrai) — unlike the world's kusumbh (safflower) colors that wash off, which the Vaar mentions elsewhere. The Vaar quietly builds a whole family of dye-images; here the note is pure warmth — the joy of being permanently colored by a love you did not have to manufacture.
What is a feeling or a value in you that has soaked in so deep it feels permanent?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI