Sikhism·Raag Sorath·Shabad 26
Verse 1 of 4

The One Watches Its Own Creation and Lights Up With Joy

ਸੋਰਠਿ ਮਹਲਾ ੪ ॥
sorath mehlaa 4.
Sorat'h, Fourth Mehl:
ਆਪੇ ਹੀ ਸਭੁ ਆਪਿ ਹੈ ਪਿਆਰਾ ਆਪੇ ਥਾਪਿ ਉਥਾਪੈ ॥
aapay hee sabh aap hai pi-aaraa aapay thaap uthaapai.
He Himself, the Beloved, is Himself all-in-all; He Himself establishes and disestablishes.
ਆਪੇ ਵੇਖਿ ਵਿਗਸਦਾ ਪਿਆਰਾ ਕਰਿ ਚੋਜ ਵੇਖੈ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਆਪੈ ॥
aapay vaykh vigsadaa pi-aaraa kar choj vaykhai parabh aapai.
The Beloved Himself beholds, and rejoices; God Himself works wonders, and beholds them.
ਆਪੇ ਵਣਿ ਤਿਣਿ ਸਭਤੁ ਹੈ ਪਿਆਰਾ ਆਪੇ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਜਾਪੈ ॥੧॥
aapay van tin sabhat hai pi-aaraa aapay gurmukh jaapai. ||1||
The Beloved Himself is contained in all the woods and meadows; as Gurmukh, He reveals Himself. ||1||

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

In plain words

The Beloved is everything — it sets things up and takes them down again.

It watches its own creation and lights up with joy, working wonders and then delighting in them.

It's alive in every forest and field, and through the teaching it steps into view.

The One watches its own creation and lights up with joy.
The deeper layer

This one says: the One made everything, and lights up with joy watching it.

Aapay hee sabh aap hai pi-aaraa: the Beloved is everything. Thaap uthaapai means the One sets things up and takes them down again. Making and unmaking, both sides belong to the One.

The tender heart of this verse is vaykh vigsadaa. The One watches, and blossoms with joy. It is like a child who builds a block tower and then just sits and smiles at it. The One is its own happy audience.

Van tin means woods and grasses. So that joy lives in ordinary nature, in every park and field. And through the gurmukh, the person who turns toward the Guru, the hidden Maker steps into view.

A Question to Sit With

What do you make or do that fills you with joy just to look at afterward?

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI

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