Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In Saawan, be glad, my heart! The rainy season has come, and the clouds burst into showers.
My mind and body love my Lord, but my Beloved has gone away.
My Beloved has not come home, and missing You hurts so much. The lightning flashes, and I am scared.
My bed is lonely, and I ache all over. Oh mother, this pain is too much for me.
Tell me — without the One, how can I sleep, or even feel hungry? My clothes give my body no comfort.
Nanak says: the happy heart is the one that rests in the Beloved's embrace.
The same rain can feel so different.
Saawan is the monsoon month, around July and August. In this song of the twelve months, it is where the missing feels strongest. The old word for that feeling is viraha, the ache of being apart from someone you love.
The rain comes and the heart should be glad. But the one it loves feels far away. The lightning flashes and the heart jumps. The words in the verse are very strong: "I am dying of it, O mother." That is how the old poems said "I miss you so much it hurts." It is a picture of deep longing, and it always points toward coming home.
Think of a thunderstorm at night. If you are alone in your room, every flash feels scary. If your family is right beside you on the couch, the same storm feels cozy, even fun.
That is the point. The rain is the same. The only difference is whether the heart rests close to the One it loves. The last line says it: pir kai ank samaav-ay, "she rests folded in the arms of the Beloved." That heart is the happy one.
When you miss someone, what helps you feel close to them even from far away?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI