I am a stone in the Boat of the Guru. Please carry me across the terrifying ocean of poison.
O Guru, please, lovingly bless me with the Word of the Shabad. I am such a fool - please save me!
I am a fool and an idiot; I know nothing of Your extent. You are known as Inaccessible and Great.
You Yourself are Merciful; please, mercifully bless me. I am unworthy and dishonored - please, unite me with Yourself!
Through countless lifetimes, I wandered in sin; now, I have come seeking Your Sanctuary.
Take pity on me and save me, Dear Lord; I have grasped the Feet of the True Guru. ||3||
# Raag Tukhaari, Shabad 7 — Carry This Stone Across in Your Boat
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
I feel as heavy as a stone, but even a stone rides safely across the water in the Guru's boat.
So I ask the Guru: give me the Word, and gently carry me across this wide, hard sea.
I do not understand much, and I cannot measure how vast and wonderful You are.
You are the kind One. In Your kindness, join me to Yourself, plain and empty-handed as I am.
I have wandered and lost my way for a long, long time. Now I have come to shelter with You.
Be kind and keep me safe. I am holding on to the Guru with everything I have.
The image is ham paathar gur naav: "I am a stone, the Guru is the boat." Stones sink, yet the Guru's boat carries even a stone across the bhavjal, the wide and difficult ocean of the world, rendered here gently as a hard sea rather than an ocean of poison. Nirgunee nimaania ("unworthy and dishonored") is turned into honest empty-handedness before the One, not self-blame. Sarnaagat is coming into sanctuary, into shelter. The long "wandering" is the feeling of having been lost, not a catalogue of sins.
When you feel weighed down, who or what helps carry you across?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI