Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Why speak of union to those who are already united with the Lord? Through the Shabad, they are satisfied — they have arrived.
The self-centered mind does not understand. Separated from the One, it takes blow after blow.
O Nanak — there is only one door to His home. There is no other place.
Mili-aa kaa ki-aa maylee-ai — "why speak of union to those already united?" The question is almost playful: you don't need to tell someone who is already home how to get home. Those who have received the Shabad are pateea-ay — satisfied, settled, at peace. There is nothing more they need to be told. The instruction is complete; the arrival has happened.
The contrast with the manmukh is sharp: sojhee naa pavai, veechhurh chotaa khaa-ay — they don't understand; separated from the One, they take blow after blow. Not as punishment — as the natural consequence of separation. A fish out of water suffers. It is not being punished; it is simply outside its element. The entire composition has built this point through five different natural images: separation from the element is suffering. Reunion is peace.
Naanak dar ghar ayk hai, avar na doojee jaa-ay — O Nanak, there is only one door to His home; there is no other place at all. The final couplet of the entire ashtapadee is absolute: ayk — only one. Avar na doojee jaa-ay — there is no other place at all. The search for the divine elsewhere — in other powers, in religious performance, in worldly achievement — has no arrival point. There is only the One door. And the Guru shows it.
Read from the beginning: the lotus blossoms in the water. The fish cannot survive without it. The chatrik waits for only one drop. The water bears the heat for the milk. The chakvee keeps vigil through the night. All five are pointing at the same door. And O Nanak — there is only one.
Where have you been looking for fulfillment or peace — and have any of those other places actually delivered it, permanently?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI