ਆਪੇ ਤਾਣੁ ਦੀਬਾਣੁ ਹੈ ਪਿਆਰਾ ਆਪੇ ਕਾਰੈ ਲਾਇਆ ॥
aapay taan deebaan hai pi-aaraa aapay kaarai laa-i-aa.
The Beloved Himself is power and presence; He Himself engages us in our work.
ਜਿਉ ਆਪਿ ਚਲਾਏ ਤਿਉ ਚਲੀਐ ਪਿਆਰੇ ਜਿਉ ਹਰਿ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਮੇਰੇ ਭਾਇਆ ॥
ji-o aap chalaa-ay ti-o chalee-ai pi-aaray ji-o har parabh mayray bhaa-i-aa.
As the Beloved makes me walk, I walk, as it pleases my Lord God.
ਆਪੇ ਜੰਤੀ ਜੰਤੁ ਹੈ ਪਿਆਰਾ ਜਨ ਨਾਨਕ ਵਜਹਿ ਵਜਾਇਆ ॥੪॥੪॥
aapay jantee jant hai pi-aaraa jan naanak vajeh vajaa-i-aa. ||4||4||
The Beloved Himself is the musician, and the musical instrument; servant Nanak vibrates His vibration. ||4||4||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The Beloved is all strength and all presence, setting each of us to our tasks.
However it moves me, I move — content to go the way it lovingly leads.
It is the musician and the instrument both, and I am simply a note it plays.
The One is the musician and the instrument both — and I am simply a note it plays.
Ji-o aap chalaaay ti-o chalee-ai — “as it moves me, I move” — is not grim fatalism but sahaj trust: leaning into the flow (hukam) rather than fighting it. And jantee jant — musician and instrument — closes the shabad with a gentle self-image: I am a note the Beloved plays. Being “played” here is a relief, not a loss.
A Question to Sit With
What does it feel like to trust something bigger and let it lead the way?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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