Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Beholding the terrifying mountain in this world — the mountain that is life itself — I am terrified.
It is so difficult to climb. There is no ladder that reaches that high.
But as Gurmukh, I come to know: the mountain is within my own self. The Guru brings me to Union — and I cross over.
Ih jag jaa-ay dithay pahaarr dhiraaee — beholding this world as a terrifying (dhiraaee — frightening, awe-inspiring) mountain, I am terrified. The mountain is not a metaphor for an external obstacle — it is the world, the world-crossing itself. Life as a terrifying mountain. The first response is named directly: fear. I am terrified.
Uchaa pahaarr charhan katt hoi, seerrh na jaa-ay — so difficult to climb this high mountain; there is no ladder that reaches up there. The mountain is not merely difficult — it is genuinely insurmountable by conventional means. No ladder (seerrh) reaches it. Not a problem of effort; a problem of structure. The human attempt to climb — through achievement, accumulation, austerity, ritual — cannot reach the top. This has already been established across the ashtapadees: no hard living, no charity, no ritual equals the Name.
Gurmukhi ap-nai aap pachhan-ai, gur milaaee saichi — as Gurmukh, I recognize my own self; the Guru brings me to Union and I cross over in truth. The resolution is interior: the mountain is within the self. The Gurmukh does not find a better ladder; they discover that the mountain they feared is actually located inside, and the Guru's Union is what enables the crossing. The terrifying external mountain collapses into an interior that the Guru navigates.
What is the mountain in your life that feels impossible to climb — and what would it mean to discover that the path through it is within you?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI