Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
The ocean of this world is terrifying — vast, dangerous, with no shore visible on either side.
There is no boat. No raft. No oars. No boatman to take you across.
The True Guru is the only vessel on this ocean. The Guru's glance of grace — that is what carries you to the other side.
Bhavjal bikhamu daraavno — the world-ocean (bhav-jal) that is terrifying (daraavno) and treacherous (bikhamu). Bhav (Sanskrit: being, becoming, existence) + jal (water): the ocean of worldly existence, of the cycle of birth and death. The crossing of this ocean is liberation. The question every tradition in every culture has asked: how do you cross?
Naa kandhee naa paar — no shore on this side, no shore on the other. The full terror of the image: you are in the middle of something with no visible land in any direction. The soul that has not found the Guru is in exactly this position — caught in the world-ocean with no visible exit, no fixed point to navigate by.
Naa bayrhi naa tulharhaa naa tis vanjh malaar — no boat, no raft, no oars, no boatman. The exhaustive list of negations is deliberate: every possible conventional means of crossing has been removed. You cannot swim; the ocean is too vast. You cannot build a boat; there is no wood. There is no boatman to hire. The situation is impossible by any ordinary measure.
And then: Satgur bhai kaa bohithaa — the True Guru is the boat of bhai (awe-reverence, the Fear of God). Not just any boat: a vessel made of reverence, of the awe that orients the soul correctly. And it crosses by nadar — the Glance of Grace. The Guru looks at you, and you are across. The divine gaze is the crossing.
For children: have you ever been in a situation that seemed completely impossible — no way out, no one to help — and then something unexpected carried you through? That is the shape of what this pauri is describing.
When you have been in a situation with no apparent way through, what — or who — helped you across?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI