Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
A settled heart wakes in peace and lies down in peace.
Turned toward the Guru, it quietly gives thanks all through the day and night.
A mind tangled in worry keeps circling its doubts, so full of anxiety it can barely rest.
The wise wake and sleep with an easy, natural calm. Nanak says: I give my whole self to those colored through with the Naam.
A settled heart wakes in peace and sleeps in peace.
A gentle shalok of Guru Amar Das on sahaj — natural, effortless ease. sehjay jaagai sehjay sovai — waking and sleeping in peace is the mark of a heart no longer at war with itself. The contrast is not moral but experiential: the anxious, doubt-circling mind literally cannot rest (need na sovai), while gi-aanee jaageh saveh subhaa-ay, the wise move through waking and sleeping subhaa-ay, naturally, without forcing. This matches the philosophy's picture of sahaj: the soul at home in itself, steady beneath the surface of events. A quietly reassuring shalok for a child about what real inner peace feels like.
What helps you wake up and go to sleep feeling calm rather than worried?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI