Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Beloved One fills everything, and stands complete all on its own.
In this great marketplace of the world, the One is the trader, the banker, and even the goods being traded.
Buyer, seller, and the trust between them — all of it is the same One, wearing every role.
Guru Ram Das, the fourth Guru, says the One plays every role in life's big marketplace.
This begins a long song built on the word aapay, which means "the One Itself." Line after line, aapay shows the same One on both sides of every pair.
Aapay aap varatdaa pi-aaraa: the Beloved fills everything. Vanjaaraa jag aap hai: the One is the trader in this world. Aapay saachaa saahu: the One is also the true saahu, the banker. Aapay vanaj vapaaree-aa: the One is the goods and the one who sells them. Aapay sach vaysaahu: the One is even the trust that lets people trade.
Think of a school play where one actor plays every character, changing hats between scenes. It is still the same person underneath.
This is Ik Onkar, "One Creator of all," lived out. There is no second. So even things that seem like opposites are one reality in different costumes.
The word pi-aaraa, "Beloved," keeps coming back. It keeps this huge oneness warm and loving, not cold.
Can you think of two things that seem like opposites but are really parts of one whole?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI